LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (4-4, 4-4 LSC) vs.
OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (1-3, 1-3 LSC)
Friday, Feb. 14 – 4 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 15 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, Feb. 16  – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian got back on track last weekend with four wins against Sul Ross State at Kokernot Field and now gets to return home for a series against Oklahoma Christian at Hays Field. The Chaps exploded offensively against the Lobos, hitting 17 home runs and scoring 74 runs in the four-game series. LCU slugged .839 as a team on the weekend, led by senior infielder Brevin McCool, who hit .625 with three doubles and five home runs. Several Chap pitchers also had strong performances, including Ryan Markwardt's 6.0 innings of scoreless ball in a start on Feb. 8.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Lubbock Christian senior infielder Brevin McCool was recognized for his heroic efforts at plate against Sul Ross with three awards during the week. He earned conference, regional and national Hitter of the Week honors. McCool slugged 1.750 for the weekend, collecting 28 total bases with an on-base percentage of .714. In Sunday's game, he was intentionally walked two times. It was the first time a Chap player was intentionally walked multiple times in a game since Feb. 22, 2022 when LCU catcher Luis Navarro drew two against St. Mary's. He is the first Chaparral player to win National Hitter of the Week honors since Ryan Ball did it on Feb. 7. 2024.
 
TO START WITH
A major part of the reason Lubbock Christian has been able to score so many runs this season (12.3 per game) has been their ability to put the leadoff batter in an inning on base. The Chaps are reaching base at a .492 clip as a team so far this season. Senior outfielder Shea Bowen leads the way, having reached base in six of his seven leadoff opportunities (.867). Both Adam Garcia and Jacob Gutierrez have on-base percentages above .700 in their leadoff opportunities so far this season.
 
ON THE BUMP
LCU's projected starting pitchers for the four-game series are Lex Garcia, Ryan Markwardt, Evan Roach and Cadon Everett. Markwardt, a returning All-American, had the best outing of the four against Sul Ross, earning his first win of the year. He allowed only one run in six innings of work while striking out eight against only one walk. Chris Jones, Sam Collins, Tyler Wilcox and Brooks Snyder are the slated starters for Oklahoma Christian. Jones was the only Eagle to get a win for OC last weekend, allowing four runs in five innings with eight strikeouts against St. Mary's. The Eagles did get two strong relief outings from Tristan Copeland, who did not allow a run in 9.1 innings and earned LSC Pitcher of the Week honors for the performance.
 
POWER SURGE
Against the Lobos last weekend, Lubbock Christian blasted 29 extra base hits, including 17 home runs, 11 doubles and one triple. After the big weekend, LCU now leads the nation in home runs with 20 and in slugging percentage at .675. Five of the weekend's homers came off the bat of McCool, as did three of the doubles. He now leads the nation with seven home runs this season, and his seven blasts are more than 113 entire Division II teams have hit. His slugging percentage of 1.294 also leads the nation. Bowen, Nicklaus Baumbach, Kade York and Johnny Gomez III also had multi-homer weekends in Alpine.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
The Chaps got a number of good outings from their bullpen during their trip to Alpine, posting a 5.87 ERA with an opponent's batting average of .263 in the four games against SRSU. Karson Dunn had the best outing of the bunch, earning the first save of his LCU career with three innings of scoreless relief in which he allowed only one baserunner. Dakota McCaskill, Logan More, Andrew Duran and Tyler Manyo also posted scoreless outings in relief. LCU relievers struck out 15 batters in 15.1 innings of work against only seven walks.
 
OTHER STATISTICAL MEASURES
Have you heard of OPS? The baseball stat adds together on-base and slugging percentage and is a good measure of a hitter's overall ability to get on base and hit for power. But it has some issues! Enter GPA, or Gross Production Average, which is a more accurate variation of OPS. GPA gives more weight on OBP. The exact formula is OBP*1.8+SLG/4. The result gives a number in similar scale to batting average. Ryan Blackwell is the team leader in GPA at .677, although in less playing time. McCool is the leading starter in GPA at .577.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Brock Tijerina has the longest hitting streak of the season by a Chap, with hits in all seven games he has played in. Right behind him is Gomez and Jacob Gutierrez, who both have hits in six straight games. Both Bowen and York have reached base in all eight games of the year, leading the team. In the multi-hit category, Baumbach leads the way with six, including one game with four hits, two with three hits and three with two hits. McCool leads with five multi-RBI games.
 
BIG LEAGUE CONNECTION
Pitchers and catchers reported earlier this week, with a couple of former Chaps on staff to help out the professional players. Buck Britton, who played shortstop for LCU 2007-08, earned a promotion in the offseason and is now a major league coach on the Baltimore Orioles staff. He has previously been the manager of the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate Norfolk Tides. Wigberto Nevarez, who is a former catcher for the Chaps, is entering his eighth season of coaching and his fifth with the Gwinnet Stripers, which is the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He spent the winter coaching for Santruce of the Puerto Rican Winter League.
 
2000 & COUNTING
Since the inception of LCU's baseball program in 1971, the Chaparrals have been one of the best baseball teams at whatever level they were playing. Lubbock Christian has played 3,400 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,285 wins and 1,119 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 802-371 record in that time.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE EAGLES
Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma Christian have been meeting on the diamond since 1971, which was LCU's first baseball season as a four-year institution. The Chaps won that first meeting 5-0 and have controlled the all-time series with 77 wins against just 24 losses and one tie. LCU has won 13 of the last 14 meetings between the two teams, including all four last year in Oklahoma City. They Chaps reached the double-digit mark in all four of the games in 2024, including a 22-2 win in which they homered five times.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES

• OC had its open weekend to start the season and therefore has only played on series so far this year, going 1-3 against St. Mary's
• The Eagles are hitting just .236 on the season, which is the worst mark in the Lone Star Conference
• Infielder Thomas Reid leads the offense with a .400 batting average, including one triple
• Head coach Lonny Cobble is in his 13^th season leading the Oklahoma Christian baseball program, with a 286-294-1 all-time record
• The Eagles lead the Lone Star Conference in WHIP at 1.17. Their pitching staff posted an ERA of 5.10 through the first four games