CANYON, Texas (May 3, 2024) – Senior Kamryn Gibbs strung together three hits for a five-hit afternoon, but the No.6-seed Lubbock Christian Lady Chaparrals fell to No-2-seed No.3 UT Tyler Patriots 8-5 Friday in the Semifinals of the LSC Championships at Schaeffer Park.
Teoni Lamb (9-6) got the ball to start for Lubbock Christian (26-22) in the circle and took the loss. Maxine Valdez, who pitched a complete game shutout earlier Friday in a 1-0 quarterfinals win over No.21 Angelo State, was a bright spot for the Lady Chaps, coming out of the bullpen and throwing 4.0 innings. She surrendered a run on two hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
Gibbs' three-hit game led the Lady Chaps offensively. Skylar Herrera put together a standout performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Hope Banales also contributed for Lubbock Christian, putting together one hit in four trips to the plate while adding a double and two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UT Tyler used a five-hit second inning, highlighted by doubles from Audrey Escamilla and Courtney Plocheck and a triple from JT Smith, which led to a seven-run inning and a 7-0 lead for the Patriots. The Lady Chaps charged back in the third inning when they tallied three runs in the frame, sparked by a two-RBI double from Banales. Riley Flores had a sacrifice fly to close the scoring in the inning.
LCU closed the gap further in the fourth inning, as Herrera hit a two-out RBI-single, which brought the score to 7-4. UTT added a run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, but LCU pushed across a run on Bailey Hughes' two-out RBI double. Unfortunately for the Lady Chaps their last six batters were retired in order, as Christin Haygood notched her third save of the season for UTT.
GAME NOTES
» Gibbs led the Lady Chaps, picking up three hits in the ballgame. She had a solid two-way performance, as she had five putouts in left field, including a catching crashing into the left-centerfield fence. She was 3-for-4 performance at the plate to combine for a 5-for-8 (.625) performance in the tournament (at the plate).
» Valdez's 4.0 innings of work added up to 11.0 innings in the circle Friday (including the quarterfinals game), allowing one run off five hits and striking out nine batters (0.64 ERA on the day). Opponents hit .135 against her on the day.
» The Chaparrals out-hit the Patriots at a 10-9 clip. LCU is 24-11 when out-hitting the opposition.
» Lubbock Christian went 3-for-10 (.300) with runners in scoring position.
» LCU was without a home run in the game and dropped to 5-16 in games in which they do not homer.
» Herrera led the Chaparrals at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. She was 2-for-7 in the tournament and is 7-for-19 (.368) in five career LSC Championship games (six career RBI). Herrera and Gibbs are the only Lady Chaps to appear in all five of their LSC Championship games in program history.
» UTT was led offensively by senior Courtney Plocheck, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI.
HISTORICAL NOTE
LCU dropped to 1-3 all-time against UT Tyler in postseason play (0-1 in LSC Championships) and they are 3-11 all-time against UTT. The Lady Chaps are now 1-4 all-time in LSC Championship contests. LCU is now 4-10 this season in games against nationally ranked teams (2-6 away from home), with six of the losses against teams nationally ranked in the top-5.
WHAT'S NEXT
LCU now plays the waiting game. The NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show is scheduled to air Monday at 9 a.m. on NCAA.com and the South Central Regional field will be announced at that time.
