Lubbock Christian (35-21) vs.
St. Edward's (39-15)
May 18-?? – The Diamond – Grand Junction, Colorado
 
WARMING UP
It's win or go home time for Lubbock Christian University as they head to the Centennial State for the NCAA South Central Regional. LCU is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history in the eight seasons (excluding 2020) since they moved to the Division II level and became eligible for postseason play. The Chaps also reached the regional in 2016, 2017 and 2019. As the No. 6 seed, the Chaps are playing at the No. 2 seed Colorado Mesa, along with the No. 3 seed St. Edward's. The other half of the region includes No. 1 seed Angelo State, No. 4 seed UT Tyler and No. 5 seed MSU Denver. The winner of each regional will meet next weekend at the highest remaining seed for the super regional round.
 
FIRST PITCH

• LCU shortstop Carson Ogilvie's 92 hits this season, exactly half (46) have gone for extra bases. He has 29 doubles, nine triples and eight home runs. He hit for the cycle twice this season
• Even though they were the No. 4 seed, the Chaps reached the championship game of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, eliminating No. 3 seed UT Tyler and No. 2 seed St. Edward's in upset wins
• This will be LCU's first trip to Grand Junction, Colorado since their very first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016
• Caden Hensley, Brevin McCool, Carson Ogilvie and Eduardo Acosta were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, which was announced on Wednesday
• The Chaps have won 11 out of their last 14 games

 
REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
Both Ogilvie and Acosta were also recognized by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday, earning spots on their All-Region First Team. The two were All-LSC First Team selections this season and both on the LSC All-Tournament team as well. Acosta was named the NCBWA Hitter of the Week twice this season and Ogilvie earned the award once. One of them lead LCU in just about every positive offensive category (except home runs).
 
LONE STAR ALL-STARS
Seven Lubbock Christian players were recognized with various Lone Star Conference awards last week, including All-LSC First Team selections Ogilvie and Acosta, All-LSC Second Team selection Chris Shull and All-LSC Third Team selections McCool, Nate Van Maanen and Ayden Alger. Ogilvie and McCool were also named to the LSC All-Academic Team, and Hensley was named the second basemen on the league's All-Defensive Team.
 
EARLY AND OFTEN
Lubbock Christian has done a good job of getting on the board early all season. They have outscored their opponents a whopping 79 to 38 in the first inning, and 199 to 136 in the first three innings combined. The Chaps hit .381 in the opening frame, with Ogilvie, Acosta and Van Maanen all hitting above .400 in the first on more than 40 at-bats. They are 23-11 when scoring in the first inning and 28-12 when scoring first overall. Their record when leading after the first inning is 19-6.
 
HEAVY HITTERS
LCU added nine home runs to their season total in the four games they played in San Angelo, Texas last weekend, bringing their season total to 78. It is the most home runs hit by a Chaparral team in the last eight seasons, which is as far back as those stats are available. They seem to be hitting their stride offensively, also ranking in the top 25 nationally in batting average (No. 7), doubles (No. 8), hits (No. 4), on-base percentage (No. 22), runs (No. 7), sacrifice flies (No. 15), slugging percentage (No. 6) and triples (No. 5). Six of the nine everyday starters are batting above the .300 mark, led by Acosta's .439 average.
 
TWO AWAY
You don't average 9.1 runs per game (13th-most in the nation) without collecting a few clutch hits along the way, and the Chaps have gotten quite a few this season. As a team, LCU bats .320 when there are two outs, led by Ogilvie's .400 average in those situations. Van Maanen is the team leader in two-out RBI with 32. Acosta, Jarred Gibson, Ogilvie and Shull all have at least 20 as well. On the flip side, LCU's pitching staff has done a good job getting off the field with two outs, limiting opponents to a .286 batting average in those situations.
 
PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND
Lubbock Christian also ranks in the top five nationally (No.4) in double plays turned with 49. The middle infield is usually made up of Ogilvie and Hensley, although Sam Shank has seen some time at shortstop with Ogilvie at second. McCool has handled the majority of the time at third base. The Chap pitching staff does lead on the ground ball as a whole, with 447 groundouts to 407 flyouts. Ryan Markwardt is the most ground ball reliant of the Chap hurlers, with 89 groundouts to 74 flyouts in his time on the mound.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Three Chaps made it through the LSC Tournament with their hitting/reached base streaks in tact and all three have now reached the double-digit mark. Ogilvie has the longest streak at 15 games, followed by Acosta at 11 and McCool at 10. Ogilvie also leads the team in multi-hit games with 29. Van Maanen is squarely back in the team lead in multi-RBI games with 19. Gibson and Shull are tied for second with 16 apiece.
 
A DEEPER LOOK
This is usually the part where we introduce a weird stat and explain what it means, but this week we are simply going to take a deeper look at Chris Shull, the two-way player. After starting the first 33 games of the season in the outfield, Shull was asked to step in and pitch some as well and has been excellent. Pitching both as a starter and a reliever, he is 4-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 17.1 innings. He was the winning pitcher (in relief) in both of LCU's wins over WT in the first round of the LSC tournament, and he got a save in the second round. His strikeout to walk ratio of 2.8 is the best of any Chap pitcher with at least 10 innings of work. He has continued to hit well with a .359 overall average and a team-leading 14 home runs. Even in the seven games where he has pitched, Shull is batting .320 with a .469 on-base percentage.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Chaps will head back out on the road for the South Central Regional, where they are 16-12 this season. LCU's offense has not clicked as well away from the friendly confines of Hays Field, hitting .316 on the road compared to .358 at home. The pitching staff has been slightly better on the road, holding opponents to a .295 average compared to a .319 average at home. LCU's Thursday game against SEU will be a neutral site game though, which the Chaps are 2-0 in after last weekend. Colorado Mesa plays at The Diamond at Bus Bergman Sports Complex, which opened in 2022.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• SEU finished second in the Lone Star Conference and earned the No. 3 seed at the South Central Regional with a 39-15 overall record in head coach Bryan Faulds' second season at the helm
• The Hilltoppers had three players recognized by the NCBWA, with Luke Short on the All-Region First Team and Wesley Gafford and Lance Little on the All-Region Second Team
• St. Edward's has the second-best pitching staff in the Lone Star Conference with a team ERA of 4.89
• Sophomore Lance Little leads the Hilltopper offense with a .402 batting average and .686 slugging percentage
• This is SEU's ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament since moving to the Division II level and becoming postseason eligible in 2002

 
THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's have met five times already this season, with LCU leading the season series 3-2 after a 10-6 win last week in the LSC tournament. The Chaps and Hilltoppers have been meeting on the diamond since 1986, and the Chaps lead the all-time series 37-30. Most of the meetings have come in the last eight seasons, when LCU moved to NCAA Division II and joined the Heartland Conference. In 2018 alone, the Chaps and Hilltoppers faced off 10 times, with SEU winning eight of them.