TYLER, Texas (May 11, 2023) – It is a return trip to Tyler… In more ways than one. Lubbock Christian University softball were finalists in the 2022 NCAA Division II South Central Regional (hosted in Tyler) and appeared in Tyler last week at the LSC Championship. Thursday at Irwin Ballpark, LCU returns to Tyler to open the 2023 edition of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional as the No.5-seed and they open the four-team double elimination tournament facing No.4-seed No.22 Oklahoma Christian at 5 p.m. Mother Nature may interrupt games and times, as rain showers are expected throughout the weekend.
The Scenario
- If LCU defeats Oklahoma Christian, LCU will play Friday in a Semifinals contest at 12 p.m. against No.1-seed No.3 UT Tyler or No.8-seed St. Edward's.
- A loss would place LCU into a 3 p.m. elimination game Friday against either UT Tyler or St. Edward's.
| LONE STAR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP |
| OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
WATCH |
STATS |
| No.22 (4) OC |
Tyler, Texas |
Thur., May. 11 |
5 p.m. |
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LCU and OC Series Snapshot
- LCU leads the all-time series over OC, 37-22, with OC on a four-game win streak in the head-to-head series. The 59 all-time meetings marks OC as LCU's most common opponent all-time.
- The Lady Chaps are 0-3 this season against Oklahoma Christian, who swept LCU in the regular season (a three-game series Mar. 3-4 in Oklahoma City, Okla). OC held LCU to a .139 batting average in the series. Berkeley Quinn did hit .375 in the three games, going 3-for-8 at the plate. Bailey Hughes had three RBI in the series, with all coming off LCU's lone home run in the series.
- OC has won 11 of the last 13 meetings.
- This meeting will mark their first-ever NCAA postseason contest. LCU is 7-4 all-time against OC in neutral site games, with OC winning the last four neutral site tilts.
- Kasey Flores is 7-for-17 (.412) with two doubles, home run and six RBI in six meetings against OC over her career.
- Maxine Valdez has a career 2.69 ERA against OC in six career appearances. Valdez has 28 strikeouts in 26.0 career innings verses OC.
How is the Team Doing?
- LCU is 39-15 this season and are coming off a 7-4 loss to Cameron at the LSC Championship in Tyler, which placed LCU 0-3 all-time in LSC Championship contests.
- This season's 39-15 record includes a 13-game, 10-game and six-game win streak.
- The Lady Chaps are hitting .324 as a team (leads the conference and 34th nationally), with 58 home runs (20th nationally) in 54 games. LCU averages 6.1 runs a contest (third in LSC and 35th nationally).
- In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 2.25 (29th nationally and third in the LSC). Opponents are hitting .184 against LCU this season (leads the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 1.00 (second in the LSC and eighth nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.99 (third in the LSC and 36th nationally). LCU has seven no-hitters this season (12 over the prior two seasons).
- LCU ranks 11th in the nation in doubles (98) and is 13th in doubles per game (1.81).
- Defensively, LCU ranks 46th nationally with a 96.8% fielding percentage. They are fifth in the LSC with 0.30 double plays turned per game.
Who is Doing What?
- Lone Star Conference All-Conference Recipients (additional honors listed)… Eight Lady Chaps were recognized:
- NFCA All-Region Recipients:
- Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 16-5 this season with a 2.55 ERA in 109.2 innings pitched (also has two saves). She ranks 11th nationally averaging 9.4 strikeouts per seven innings, 12th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.15, second in the LSC), 12th nationally in WHIP (0.88, leads LSC) and 59th in strikeouts (146, fifth in the LSC). On Feb. 11, Valdez posted a complete game no-hitter against Chadron State (Feb. 9). She continued, completing her second no-hitter of the season Mar.17 in a win over St. Mary's, a third on April 12 (against Cameron) and a fourth on April 28 against UT Permian Basin (had 16 strikeouts in the game to match a program single-game record), which was her fifth of her career. Valdez also claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 14 and is the LSC's only four-time Pitcher of the Week recipient this season. She is 35-14 in her career.
- Taylor Franco is 15-8 with a 1.62 ERA (third in the conference) and ranks tied for 28th nationally with 20 complete games (second in LSC). She is tied for 20th nationally in shutouts (7, which is tied with Valdez), 22nd in hits allowed per seven innings (4.50), 32nd in WHIP (0.96) and 39th in strikeouts (170). She claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honors on Mar. 1 (first of her career). On Mar. 5, she became the second Lady Chaps pitcher in program history to surpass 500 career strikeouts. LCU's career-leader in starts (109) blanked UT Permian Basin on Apr. 28 to become the 12th NCAA Division II player to reach eight career no-hitters. She is on the Tucci/NFCA Player/Pitcher of the Year Watchlist.
- Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (29), which is 11th actively at all NCAA levels
- Fourth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (70), which is 13th actively at all NCAA levels
- Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (694.0), which is 15th actively at all NCAA levels
- 11th actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (8)
- 13th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (589)
- 39th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (5.94)
- Ranks 34th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (2.00)
- New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .369 (12th in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 20 doubles, which leads the LSC and is fifth nationally. Banales, who claimed one LSC Hitter of the Week honor this season, has 61 hits to rank sixth in the LSC.
- Kasey Flores leads the team in home runs (19, tied for seventh nationally and co-leads the LSC), RBI (62, 13th nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (131, 12th nationally and second in the LSC), slugging (0.862, which is ninth nationally and leads the LSC) and OPS at 1.359. The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 7 and the NFCA named her National Player of the Week on Mar. 28. In 54 games, she has 21 multi-RBI games. Flores' power has resulted in the opposition walking her (intentionally) and she ranks 21st national in walks per game (0.69, fourth in the LSC). She is on the Tucci/NFCA Player/Pitcher of the Year Watchlist.
- In her LCU career, Flores has the 10th-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .803.
- She has 59 career home runs, which actively ranks tied for 12th among all NCAA levels.
- LCU has an 86-53 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 25 stolen bases (sixth in the LSC) and Skylar Herrera has 24 (seventh in the LSC) to place a pair of Lady Chaps in the top-10 in the conference in thefts. LCU has 86 swipes and averages 1.6 in steals per game (fifth in LSC).
- Herrera has 76 career stolen bases, which ranks 22nd for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
- The Lady Chaps have 58 home runs this season (second in LSC) and 10 different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
- Skyler Herrera ranks tied for 11th in the LSC in runs scored with 40.
- Actively ranks 32nd in NCAA Div.II in career runs (148)
- 33rd in total bases (341)
- 34th in home runs (32)
- 41st in RBI (140)
NCAA Postseason Breakdown
- This tournament marks LCU's fourth tournament appearance in the NCAA postseason. LCU is an at-large bid for a second time (joining last season in Tyler), as they received automatic berths in 2016 (San Antonio, Texas) and 2017 (San Angelo, Texas) after winning Heartland Conference Tournament titles.
- LCU is 3-6 all-time at the NCAA South Central Regionals. Last season, LCU went 2-2, winning their first two games to claim a spot in the regional championship round of the tournament, where they fell twice to UT Tyler.
- LCU is hitting .271 all-time in NCAA postseason play and they have a staff ERA of 5.65. Savannah Wysocki is LCU's all-time hit leader at the event with nine hits in four games and hit .529 in postseason play.
- Actively, Kasey Flores, Skylar Herrera and Tiarra Delrosario each have four hits in NCAA postseason play.
- LCU has five home runs all-time in NCAA postseason contests, with four by former Lady Chap Sydney Beuthien.
- Taylor Franco is LCU's all-time wins leader in NCAA postseason contests and has a 2-1 record with a 3.79 ERA (11 strikeouts in 19.0 innings). Maxine Valdez (0-1) has held opponents to a .229 batting average.
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
- This season was LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
- LCU is 74-36 all-time in LSC play.
- The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
- LCU went 29-13 in conference play, and finished in a share of third place in the LSC standings.
- The 29 conference wins marks the most in a single season since moving to NCAA and the most since a 29-win 2010 season.
- LCU is hit .304 in conference, with 48 home runs (allowed 16).
- The pitching staff had a 2.46 ERA in LSC play, with 277 strikeouts in 276.0 innings and held opponents to a .191 batting average.
- Tiarra Delrosario led LCU in conference hitting .370.
- Kasey Flores led LCU in home runs (15) and RBI (46) in conference play.
- Taylor Franco produced a 1.81 ERA and went 12-7 with 132 strikeouts in 147.1 innings. She averaged an allowance of 4.75 hits per seven innings in LSC play.
- Maxine Valdez went 12-4 in conference games and is held the opposition to a .184 batting average. She had 121 strikeouts in 90.1 innings (9.4 per seven innings).
Season Expectations
- The Lady Chaps were preseason picked to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference.
- LCU is in their ninth season playing a NCAA Division II schedule (2013 was their last season in NAIA) and this is their fourth season as members of the Lone Star Conference.
- There are 15 softball programs in the LSC this season. The major difference from last season to this season is Texas A&M-Commerce made the move to NCAA Division I.
National Notes
- Lubbock Christian is 0-7 this season against nationally ranked programs.
- The Lady Chaps went 9-10 last season (2022) against nationally ranked programs.
- LCU opened the season No.21 in the NFCA National Top-25 Coaches Preseason Poll. This week's poll does not include LCU in the national rankings for the first time this season. They had been ranked ranging No.11 - No.7 most of this season until dropping to No.16 three weeks ago.
Coach Talk
- LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 13th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
- Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering this week with a softball record of 525-172.
- Along with surpassing 500 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 300 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.
Streaking Along
Neutralize
- This season had been the first season LCU did not have a neutral site game, but that changes with postseason play (LCU is 0-1 in neutral site games this season).
- The fewest neutral site games LCU had played in during a single-season was two in 2014 (2-0).
- Last season, LCU went 7-3 in neutral site contests.
In Summary
- LCU has a 58-28 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 60-13 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 67-27 scoring advantage. LCU is 19-4 when leading after the first inning and 33-4 when scoring first.
- The Lady Chaps are 33-3 when leading after four innings.
- LCU is 29-6 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
- The Lady Chaps are 20-2 when errorless. They are 29-8 when their opponents commit at least one error.
Looking at OC
- The Lady Eagles went 39-15 last season, finishing tied for sixth in the LSC with a 22-8 conference mark. They are 36-15 this season and finished tied for third in the LSC (with LCU) with a 29-13 conference record. They are nationally ranked No.22 in the NFCA Top-25 Poll.
- OC is hitting .298 this season (fourth in LSC) and have 12 home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 2.71 and opponents are hitting .218 against them.
- Oklahoma Christian, 7-2 in neutral site games, is making a NCAA regional appearance for a fourth consecutive season. OC went to the Commerce bracket of the NCAA South Central Regional last season and went 0-2. They aim to end a streak of four consecutive regional losses.
- OC was preseason picked to finish fifth in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll. They received one first-place vote.
- Oklahoma Christian has a fielding percentage of .973, which ranks 17th nationally.
- Aaliyah Brown is the lone NFCA All-Region selection for OC. She is 21st nationally in sacrifice flies (5 of OC's 22 sac flies, which has OC ranked sixth nationally) and sixth in the LSC with 0.89 RBI per game.
