PORTALES, N.M. (April 28, 2023) – Lubbock Christian scored 17 runs and needed nearly all of them on Friday afternoon, beating Eastern New Mexico by four in the opener of the final series of the season.
 
LCU sophomore Brevin McCool helped to provide 14 of those runs. The Chaparral third basemen scored six times – breaking the Lubbock Christian program record that has stood since the mid-1970s – and drove in eight more. He was 5-for-5 at the plate (with one walk), tying the school record for hits, which has now been done 34 times. All five of his hits drove in at least one run. Two of them were home runs, bringing his season total to 11.
 
Lubbock Christian has now won five straight games, moving to 29-18 on the season and 27-18 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Early on, it looked like the Chaps might run away with the win, as they scored three in the first and three in the second. Two of the first inning runs came on a home run from Eduardo Acosta, and McCool's first home run of the day drove in all three in the second.
 
The Greyhounds got on the board for the first time with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, and the two teams traded a run each in the fourth. Neither team scored in the fifth, as the game moved along at a crisp pace.
 
Everything slowed down in the sixth though. LCU plated three more runs to go up by seven, as Acosta doubled and Nate Van Maanen grounded out to drive in another run. ENMU answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.
 
Two-run hits from McCool and Jarred Gibson in the top of the seventh put LCU back up by seven runs. In the bottom of the inning, 13 Greyhounds came to the plate as they scored six runs, cutting the Chap lead to just one run. Colton Brown came on in relief for the Chaps, and after a walk to load the bases, struck out the next batter to keep LCU on top.
 
Lubbock Christian pulled back ahead by a more comfortable margin in the eighth with three runs scored, and Brown limited ENMU to just one in the bottom of the frame. Caden Hensley drove in Jesse Benavidez for an insurance run in the top of the ninth and Brown worked a scoreless frame to secure the win and his first save of the season.
 
The junior finished the game with one run allowed on two hits in 2.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.705 | The top three in Lubbock Christian's batting order (Carson Ogilvie, McCool and Acosta) combined for 12 hits in 17 at-bats for a .705 batting average, adding in two walks as well
9 | Chaparral starting pitcher Ayden Alger matched his LCU career high. He also struck out nine on Feb. 23 against Arkansas-Fort Smith
.778 | LCU put their leadoff batter on in seven of the nine innings for a .778 on-base percentage
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will look to keep their win streak alive on Saturday, playing a doubleheader against the Greyhounds starting at noon MT (1 p.m. CT).