LAREDO, Texas (April 2, 2023) – The final score would have looked more at home on the gridiron than the diamond, as Lubbock Christian dropped the series finale to Texas A&M International 24-20 Sunday at Jorge Haynes Field.
 
Only one inning – the fifth – featured no runs by either team, as the Chaps dropped to 18-15 on the year and 17-15 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
The day started off about as well as it possibly could have for head coach Nathan Blackwood's squad, as Carson Ogilvie led off the game with a triple and Brevin McCool promptly drove him in with a double. The lead was short-lived though, as TAMIU's first batter was hit by a pitch and their second homered.
 
It went pretty much the same throughout the rest of the ballgame, with Lubbock Christian pulling ahead at some points and Texas A&M International responding. TAMIU opened up a four-run lead in the second, but LCU rallied and tied the game back up on a Eduardo Acosta three-run home run in the top of the fourth.
 
In the sixth, it was Jarred Gibson's turn to homer, and his three-run shot put the Chaps ahead 11-8. LCU held that lead for one frame, and actually added to, it, going up 14-8 in the top of the seventh thanks to RBI from McCool and Acosta, but a disastrous bottom of the seventh let the game get away from them.
 
Fourteen TAMIU batters came to the plate in the inning, as they plated nine runs, erasing the Chaps' six-run lead and going on top by four. Chris Shull took his turn going yard in the top of the eight to cut LCU's deficit back to one run, but the Dustdevils plated seven more in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Chaps did all they could to rally in the final inning, sending nine men to the plate and scoring four more runs, but the eight-run deficit proved too large to overcome.
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will return home next for a four-game series against Texas A&M-Kingsville Thursday through Saturday. First pitch for game one on Thursday is set for 6 p.m.