LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (20-10, 19-9 LSC) at
ST. EDWARD'S (24-10, 23-9 LSC)
Saturday, March 29 – 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 30 – Noon (DH)
Monday, March 31 – 1 p.m.
Lucian Hamilton Field – Austin, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian has won seven straight games and 10 of their last 12, entering this weekend's series against St. Edward's at Lucian Hamilton Field in Austin, Texas. The series has been shifted back one day due to inclement weather in Austin, and will now stretch Saturday through Monday. The Hilltoppers are the team directly ahead of the Chaps in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 23-9 league record, having played four more games than LCU. SEU has won eight of their last 12 games, including a series split last weekend against St. Mary's. LCU currently sits fifth in the league standings, with four more series left after the matchup with the Hilltoppers.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Senior Chaparral infielder Brevin McCool was named both the LSC and NCBWA South Central Region Hitter of the week for games March 17-23. It is the third time this season he has won both awards. He has also claimed NCBWA National Hitter of the week once (2/13). McCool hit .692 for the week, as the Chaps swept TAMUK. Of his nine hits, six went for extra bases, including three doubles, one triple and two home runs - combining for a slugging percentage of 1.538 on the weekend. He added in five walks and a hit-by-pitch, reaching base at a .789 clip against the Javelinas. He drove in nine runs and scored eight more. 
 
MCCOOL AS A CUCUMBER
McCool's first home run of the weekend also earned him another LSC record. It was the 48^th of his career, which broke the league's 23-year-old career home run record of 47. It was previously held by Ben Hangartner, who played four seasons for West Texas A&M. It is the second LSC home run record McCool has broken this season, as he hit four in one game on March 10 against Angelo State. The Hobbs, New Mexico, native has been one of the top hitters in Division II this season, leading the nation in slugging percentage (1.121) and total bases (130), ranking second in home runs (19) and runs (49), third in hits (54) and runs batted in (50), 15th in walks (27) and 17th in batting average (.466). He has clubbed 11 doubles and four triples along with the 19 homers. He is also reaching base at a .568 clip and has struck out just 10 times all year.
 
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Lubbock Christian caught a whopping five Javelinas stealing during the four-game series, bringing their season total to 19, which leads the Lone Star Conference. LCU's two catchers, Ryan Blackwell and Adam Garcia, caught two apiece, and pitcher Tate Thompson nabbed one trying to steal home. Blackwell has caught a total of 10 runners stealing this season and Garcia has caught seven. Overall, LCU has a stolen base against percentage of .765.


OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Lubbock Christian enters the weekend ranked No. 4 nationally in slugging percentage (.593), No. 5 in scoring (10.5), No. 4 in home runs (48), No. 5 in hits (365) and No. 6 in batting average (.354). The are also fifth nationally in walks drawn with 182. Six of the nine Chaparral starters are batting at least .350 on the season, including McCool and Gutierrez both batting above .400. In the series against the Javelinas, LCU was getting production from all through the lineup, with Kade York batting .467 out of the eight hole on the weekend and Frayner Chavez batting a whopping .692 out of the ninth spot with a team-high 11 runs scored.
 
TABLE-SETTERS
One of the reasons the LCU offense has been so dangerous has been their ability to put the leadoff batter on base. The Chaps are reaching at a .466 clip this season in leadoff opportunities, compared to .407 by their opponents. Bowen, who was moved to the top of the lineup after the first month of the season, is reaching base at a .486 clip in leadoff opportunities. Johnny Gomez III actually has the highest leadoff on-base percentage on the team at .667, but in only 18 opportunities. Both of Gomez's home runs against the Javelinas last weekend were to lead off an inning.  
 
IN THEIR DEFENSE
The Chaps committed only one error in the four games against the Javelinas and have played error free baseball in six of their last seven contests. They played without an error in four straight games from March 15-21, marking the first time they have gone more than three games without an error since 2019. Overall this season, they have played 12 games with no errors and they are 10-2 in those contests. The team fielding percentage is .971, which is the third-best in the LSC and ranks 45^th among all Division II teams. If the season finished today, it would be the second-highest team fielding percentage of the last 15 years, behind only the 2017 squad's .972 mark.
 
ON THE BUMP
Lubbock Christian added a new arm to the rotation against the Javelinas, sending junior righthander Karson Dunn to the mound for the Friday game. He is the eighth different starter the Chaps have tried this season. Dunn went 3.1 innings, allowing three runs in an LCU win. The rest of the rotation remained the same, with Ryan Markwardt, Evan Roach and Jake Llaneza. Roach had one of his best outings of the season, tossing a complete game on 92 pitches and allowing just four runs. St. Edward's, who boasts the third-best team ERA in the league at 4.93, is expected to use Kobe Jaramillo, George Hettrick, Marley Bernal and Carson Blakely in the starting rotation.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
The Chaps are headed back out on the road, where they have a record of 10-4 this season. They bat .310 on the road compared to .394 at home, but the staff ERA of 6.35 on the road is much better than the staff ERA of 10.35 at the friendly confines. Blackwell and McCool are both batting above .400 in road games to lead the team. St. Edward's plays its games at Lucian Hamilton Field, which opened in 1968 and has undergone renovations in the early 2000s. The field measures 335 down the left field line, 404 to dead center and 330 down the right field line.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
The longest active streak on the team belongs to Johnny Gomez III, who has reached base in 25 straight games. The streak started on the second day of the season, when he had two hits off the bench against UT Tyler. Baumbach has the longest active hit streak on the team at eight, and the longest the season by a Chap was Gutierrez with 14 straight games with a hit. Gutierrez leads the team with 17 multi-hit games (three last weekend), and McCool still leads the team in multi-RBI games with 10.
 
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 3,426 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,301 wins and 1,125 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 822-377 record.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's have been meeting on the diamond since all the way back in 1986, with a fairly even all-time series in favor of the Chaps 42-32. LCU won five of the six meetings during the 2024 season, with all taking place at Hays Field. The last trip to Austin the Chaps took was in 2023, and the two teams split the series. SEU's last series win against LCU was in 2022, when they swept a four-game series.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• St. Edward's leads the nation in walks drawn with 206 on the season. They have a team on-base percentage of .441
• Head coach Ryan Femath is in his second season leading the team with an overall record of 47-39
• RHP Parker Femath ranks No. 2 in the nation with eight saves on the season. He has an ERA of 5.32 and opponents are hitting .247 against him in 14 appearances
• Outfielder Connor Cox leads the team with a .427 batting average, and his 52 hits are the 10^th most in the nation
• The Hilltoppers went on an 11-game winning streak earlier this season from Feb. 9-29, sweeping series against Cameron and UT Permian Basin