LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (25-17, 24-16 LSC) vs.
CAMERON (13-27, 13-27 LSC)
Thursday, April 17, 2025 – 6 p.m.
Friday, April 18, 2025 – 2 p.m. (DH)
Saturday, April 19 – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
It's the final home series of the 2025 regular season for the Lubbock Christian baseball team, which will host Cameron for four games at Hays Field this weekend. With two weeks left in the regular season, every single game the rest of the way is important, as they currently find themselves in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Lone Star Conference standings. The other three teams in the mix for the four seed and an opportunity to host first round games in the league's postseason tournament are West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico and St. Mary's. LCU split the series they played against all three of those teams and will need a strong finish to come out ahead of them.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
Prior to the start of Saturday's series finale (at about 12:45 p.m.), Lubbock Christian will honor the 15 graduating seniors who are wrapping up their Chaparral careers, as it could be their last time playing at Hays Field. That group includes Kade York, Shea Bowen, Frayner Chavez, Stoney Rhodes, Brevin McCool, Ryan Blackwell, Nicklaus Baumbach, Andrew Duran, Lex Garcia, Ryan Markwardt, Jake Llaneza, Alec Stanfield, Jase Schueller, Chris Brown and Cadon Everett.
 
TO START WITH…
When Bryce Nall started game four of the series against Eastern New Mexico, he became the ninth different starting pitcher used by the Chaps this season. The Seguin, Texas, native was making just his fifth appearance in college, and lasted 1.2 innings with three runs on three hits allowed. The rest of the LCU rotation remained the same, with starts from Karson Dunn, Ryan Markwardt and Evan Roach. Markwardt had another great outing, tossing his third complete game of the season. The lefty now has a 3.45 ERA in 60 innings of work. Cameron is projected to use Ryken Brandsma, Victor Munoz, Josh Martinez and Elijah Tolsma in the starting role this weekend.
 
POWER SURGE
Lubbock Christian enters the weekend ranked No. 6 nationally in slugging percentage (.575), No. 9 in scoring (9.7), No. 7 in home runs (65), No. 4 in hits (485) and No. 11 in batting average (.342). They are also third nationally in walks drawn with 244 for a team on-base percentage of .447. Six of the nine Chaparral starters are batting at least .340 on the season, including Brevin McCool and Jacob Gutierrez both batting above .400. LCU hit .309 as a team last weekend against Eastern New Mexico with eight doubles, four triples and seven home runs for a .581 slugging percentage.
 
MCCOOL AS A CUCUMBER
Although he has cooled off as of late, senior infielder Brevin McCool has been a major part of the Chaparral offensive success this season. The New Mexico native leads the nation in home runs with 23 and ranks second in total bases (third in slugging percentage (.983), fifth in runs batted in (62) and 10^th in hits (67). Earlier this season he set the LSC single-game record with four home runs against Angelo State, and he has also surpassed the league's career mark as well. He would need seven more home runs this season to set a new LSC single-season mark. In LCU history, he is currently in sole possession of the seventh-most career homers, one away from tying Scott Hoyes for sixth.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
The Lubbock Christian bullpen had one of its best weekends of the season in Portales, posting a 4.08 ERA in 17.2 innings of work, compared to a 7.71 ERA for the starters. Chap relievers limited the Greyhounds to just a .200 batting average, while striking out 16 of them. Six LCU pitchers appeared without allowing a run, led by 4.1 scoreless from Duran and 3.0 scoreless from Dakota McCaskill, who also struck out a season-high five batters. Alec Stanfield also had his best outing of the season, pitching 2.2 innings with three strikeouts. Duran has been one of LCU's most effective relievers so far this year with a 5.26 ERA, along with Logan Moore, who has a 4.50 ERA in 20 innings on the mound.
 
IN THEIR DEFENSE
Lubbock Christian has the third-best fielding percentage in the Lone Star Conference at .968. They have committed just 47 errors on the year, including 15 games without an error. They are 13-2 in those contests. Earlier this season, they went four straight games without an error, marking the first time they have gone more than three games in a row without an error since March 29 to April 9, 2019, when they went six straight games. If the season ended today, it would be their highest fielding percentage in a season since 2017, when the Chaps posted a .972 mark with just 57 errors on the year. LCU is also No. 1 in the league and No. 13 nationally in double plays turned with 35.
 
OTHER STATISTICAL METRICS
Strikeout rate or K% isn't near as complicated to formulate or understand as some of the other stats we've looked at this season, but is still a good, fresh angle to measure hitters. It is calculated by dividing the number of strikeouts by the number of at-bats. Chaparral second baseman Frayner Chavez leads the LSC and ranks No. 11 in the nation in strikeout percentage at just 18.8 percent. He has struck out just six times in 113 at-bats. Brevin McCool is also sixth in the conference with a strikeout percentage of just 12.5 percent.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
This weekend will feature the final four home games of the 24-game slate in the 2025 season, where LCU is 12-8 so far this season. Originally dedicated on April 29, 1978 as Chaparral Stadium, the complex was renamed Hays Field in 1999 to honor the L.D., Pearl, Larry, and Daren Hays families for their dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of Lubbock Christian University. The playing dimensions of Hays Field measure 340 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys, and 400 feet to straight away center. LCU is hitting a whopping .376 in home games this season, compared to just .311 on the road. The Chaparrals are 1,194-367 in home games all-time.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Two different Chaps have reached base in more than 20 straight games heading into the weekend, including McCool's 25-game streak and Jacob Gutierrez's 22-game streak. No player has a hitting streak longer than three games (Bowen). Gutierrez still leads the team in multi-hit games with 22. He had a pair of two-hit games against the Greyhounds. And McCool is still the team leader in multi-RBI games with 15.
 
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 3,438 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,306 wins and 1,132 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 827-384 record.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE AGGIES
Lubbock Christian and Cameron have only met 28 times on the diamond all-time, with the Chaps leads the series 22-6. Only eight of those matchups came prior to 2016, with LCU winning eight straight in 1976 and 1981. In the last 10 meetings, the Chaps have won nine times, including a sweep in Lawton in 2024.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES

• Cameron allow stole bases at a clip of .820, which is the third-worst mark in the LSC
• Zane Roos leads the Aggie offense with a .355 batting average, including 11 doubles, four triples and seven home runs
• CU hits just .267 as a team, which is the second-lowest average in the conference
• The Aggies did win back-to-back series earlier this season, taking three of four against Sul Ross and Oklahoma Christian
•  CU's slugging percentage of .401 is the second-lowest in the LSC, ahead of only Texas A&M-Kingsville