LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (10-8, 9-7 LSC) vs.
ANGELO STATE (17-3, 17-3 LSC)
Friday, March 7 – 5 p.m.
Sunda, March 9 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Monday, March 10 – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
The Lubbock Christian baseball team is through 18 games of the 2025 season, posting a 10-8 overall record, including a 9-7 showing in Lone Star Conference play. While it hasn't been the start to the season the Chaps wanted, they are only a game back of their pace to start the 2024 season, in which they went 11-7 in their first 18 games. LCU is also coming off a split of their only two non-conference games against an RMAC opponent, which they also did last season. The Chaps now return from a six-game stint on the road for a four-game series this weekend against Angelo State, who comes in ranked in the top five in all three Division II national polls. The Rams are 17-3 on the season.
 
FLEETING FEBRUARY
LCU wrapped up its 16-game February slate last weekend, going 9-7 in the month. Offensively, the Chaps hit .348 in the month while Chap pitchers limited opposing teams a .311 average. Brevin McCool led the way in the shortest month of the year, batting a whopping .508 with 11 home runs, six doubles and three triples. On the mound, Ryan Markwardt had a solid month, posting a 4.68 ERA and limiting opponents to a .204 batting average in 25.0 innings of work.
 
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The Chaparrals have had a strong start to the season at the plate, ranking No. 4 nationally in runs (191), No. 5 in hits (217), No. 6 in walks (111), No. 8 in batting average (.344), No. 9 in slugging percentage (.559) and No. 10 in home runs (26). Six LCU starters are batting at least .330, and the team has an on-base percentage of .450. McCool's .478 batting average leads the team, but Gutierrez is not far behind at .429. Both of those marks rank in the top 10 in the LSC. Almost half of LCU's home runs have come off the bat of McCool, but Nicklaus Baumbach and Kade York have three apiece and Shea Bowen and Johnny Gomez III have both hit a pair.
 
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 .448 clip this season in leadoff opportunities, compared to .361 by their opponents. Bowen leads the team in leadoff OBP, reaching in 10 of his 16 opportunities (.625). York and Kyle Lewis have each hit in the one-hole six times this season to lead the team reaching base at a .350 and .412 clip, respectively.
 
TO START WITH
A new arm has been slotted into the starting rotation for this weekend's series, with Dakota McCaskill getting the ball in game one. He has made four appearances this season out of the bullpen. McCaskill joins Ryan Markwardt, Evan Roach and Jake Llaneza. Markwardt and Roach are the only two who have been part of the starting rotation all season. Roach had his best outing of the season last weekend, albeit in relief, tossing five innings with one run allowed. Overall this season, LCU starting pitchers have limited opponents to a .299 batting average in 64.2 innings of work. Angelo State is projected to start Nick Wilson, Dax Dathe, Alizaeh Gutierrez and Ryan Free. Both Dathe and Free are transfers from Texas Tech.
 
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
The Lubbock Christian bullpen had a good weekend in the Centennial State, posting a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings of work. Andrew Duran, Griffin Binkley, Evan Roach, Cadon Everett and Kyler Carpenter were the five relievers use against the Thunderwolves, combining to limit the to a .195 batting average with 13 strikeouts. This season, LCU's bullpen has an ERA two runs better than the starting pitchers at 7.06. They have racked up 69 strikeouts in 79 innings of work. Binkley has yet to allow a run in his three outings, Everett has a 2.00 ERA when coming out of the bullpen, and Duran has 14 strikeouts in his last nine innings of work with just two runs allowed.
 
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Entering the weekend against the Rams, the Chaps rank second in the LSC with 11 baserunners caught stealing. Their stole base against percentage of .718 ranks fifth in the league. The two catchers used by LCU this season are Adam Garcia and Ryan Blackwell. Blackwell has nabbed six runners in 18 attempts against, while Garcia has caught four in 20 attempts against. Control of the running game will be important for LCU this weekend, as ASU ranks No. 13 nationally and first in the LSC with 48 stolen bases. 
 
OTHER STATISCTICAL METRICS
BABIP measures a player's batting average exclusively on balls hit into the field of play, removing outcomes not affected by the opposing defense (namely home runs and strikeouts). As a team, LCU has a BABIP of .379 compared to .363 for its opponents. McCool's average goes down significantly in this metric, because 12 of his 33 hits (36 percent) have left the yard. Blackwell has the highest BABIP on the team at .522. He has only been retired 22 times, and 11 of those have been via a strikeout.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Gutierrez had his 14-game hitting streak snapped in the Friday game against CSUP last week, but started a new one with three hits in the Saturday game. Only one player has a reached base streak longer than two games – Gomez III – who has reached base in 13 straight games that he has appeared in. Gutierrez does still lead the team in multi-hit games with 13, and McCool is leading with nine multi-RBI games.
 
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 3,414 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,291 wins and 1,123 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 807-374 record in that time.
 
BIG LEAGUE CONNECTION
MLB spring training got underway earlier this month, 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 Santurce of the Puerto Rican Winter League.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State have met 57 times overall, with the Rams leading the all-time series 36-19. They first met in 2010, when LCU was still a member of the NAIA, and have met every year since 2013. The Chaps were 3-4 against ASU last season, and that fourth loss was the one that sent Angelo State to the Division II College World Series and ended Lubbock Christian's season.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State is tied for first in the league with a 17-3 record in LSC play. They lost their most recent game against St. Mary's and dropped two at UT Tyler earlier this season
• The Rams lead the nation with a team batting average of .400 and runs per game at 11.1
• ASU was the national runner-up last season, falling to Tampa in the championship game. They won the national title in 2023
• The Ram pitching staff has an ERA of 3.53, which is the second-best mark in the Lone Star Conference
• ASU head coach Kevin Brooks is the only coach the school has had since re-starting their program in 2006, posting an all-time record of 805-357