LAREDO, Texas (March 15, 2025) – The Lubbock Christian baseball team bounced back from Friday's loss, winning both ends of the Saturday doubleheader 7-0 and 8-5 to take a 2-1 series lead against Texas A&M International.
 
Lefthander Ryan Markwardt tosses a complete game shutout in the game one win – his second of the season. Andrew Duran was the winning pitcher in relief in the second game after pitching 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
 
At the plate, LCU was led by junior outfielder Brock Tijerina, who on the day went 3-for-7 with two walks, three runs, two RBI and a stolen base.
 
GAME ONE
The Chaps gave Markwardt a lead to work with before he ever took the mound. Shea Bowen beat out an infield single to lead off, advancing to second on a single from Brevin McCool and to third on a ground out. He scored on Tijerina's single.
 
LCU added three more in the third, thanks to the powerful swing of Johnny Gomez III. He came up to the plate with two runners on and one out, blasting his third home run of the season to make the lead 4-0.
 
The bottom of the third was the last time TAMIU got a hit off of Markwardt, who only allowed two more baserunners the rest of the game. He finished the day with five strikeouts and only one walk, tossing an efficient 92 pitches.
 
Lubbock Christian added three insurance runs in the seventh. Nicklaus Baumbach and Tijerina both had one-out singles followed by a walk from Gomez III to load the bases. Adam Garcia followed with a two-run double, and Kyle Lewis drove in one more with a sacrifice fly.
 
GAME TWO
Six days removed from throwing 138 pitches, Evan Roach was the Chap starter in game two, and again the Chap offense gave him a lead before he took the mound. Brevin McCool worked a one-out walk and eventually came around to score an unearned run on a single by Ryan Blackwell.
 
Unearned runs became a common theme in the game for the Chaps. A whopping seven of LCU's eight runs were unearned, as TAMIU committed five errors in the game.
 
McCool reached and Bowen scored on one of those errors in the second, and Baumbach drove in McCool.  The Dustdevils scored for the first time Saturday in the bottom of the frame, but LCU answered with two more in the third, again using a TAMIU error.
 
In the third, TAMIU scored a single run again, and they were able to tie the game up and chase Roach from the game in the fourth. The teams stayed knotted up through the fifth before the Chaps retook the lead in the sixth.
 
Their run to go on top was their only earned run in the game, using a Tijerina walk and steal and a Blackwell double to lead 6-5. But three straight errors allowed two more runs, and Duran cruised through the final two frames for the 8-5 win.
 
GAME NOTES
» Markwardt joins TAMUK's Ulises Quiroga as the only Lone Star Conference pitchers with multiple complete-game shutouts this season.
» LCU had just five hits in their game two win. It is their fewest number of hits in a win since April 7, 2023, when they also had only five hits in a 2-1 win at Texas A&M-Kingsville. Ayden Alger threw a complete-game shutout that day.
» The Chaps did not commit an error in either game. They have gone errorless in nine game this season.
» With five more strikeouts, Markwardt is now third in the conference with a season total of 43.