Baseball | 05.14.2025

LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (34-21) vs.
ST. EDWARD'S (36-21)
Thursday, May 15, 2025 – 2 p.m.
Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium – San Angelo, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
For the third straight season and the sixth time since transitioning to the NCAA Division II level, Lubbock Christian will play in the NCAA Tournament.  The Chaps travel to the South Central Regional as the No. 5 seed alongside the No. 1 seed and host Angelo State and the No. 4 seed St. Edward's. The other half of the South Central Regional is being hosted by the No. 2 seed UT Tyler and also includes the No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa and the No. 6 seed MSU-Denver. The winners of each double-elimination tournament will move on to next week's super regional, hosted by the highest remaining seed. The three teams in LCU's side were the final three teams remaining at last week's LSC tournament.
 
TOURNEY TIME
Lubbock Christian has been eligible for the NCAA tournament for nine seasons, reaching the postseason in six of those opportunities. This is the third-straight year the Chaps have reached the South Central Regional. In their five previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, LCU has posted an overall record of 7-10. They won three games last season at the regional tournament they hosted to advance to the super regional and also won multiple games in 2016 at their very first regional.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Eight Chaps were honored at last week's Lone Star Conference awards banquet, including the Player of the Year Brevin McCool and Pitcher of the Year Ryan Markwardt. Both players were placed on the All-LSC First Team, along with outfielder Jacob Gutierrez. Fellow outfielder Shea Bowen and infielder Nicklaus Baumbach were named to the league's Second Team, and outfielder Kyle Lewis is an All-LSC Third Team Selection, McCool and fellow infielders Kade York and Frayner Chavez were also named to the league's All-Defensive Team, and McCool was named to LSC Academic Player of the Year for the second-straight season.
 
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Lubbock Christian enters the weekend ranked No. 6 nationally in slugging percentage (.577), No. 6 in scoring (10.2), No. 6 in home runs (87), No. 4 in hits (636) and No. 9 in batting average (.344). They are also second nationally in walks drawn with 323 for a team on-base percentage of .451. Six of the nine Chaparral starters are batting at least .340 on the season, including Jacob Gutierrez and Brevin McCool batting above .400. The Chaps have scored double-digit runs 25 times this season, going 22-3 in those contests.
 
 
TABLE-SETTERS
A large part of the reason the Chaparral offense has been so good this season is their ability to put the leadoff batter on base. LCU leadoff hitters are reaching at a .446 clip, compared to just .400 from their opponents. Johnny Gomez III has been the best at reaching when batting first in an inning, posting an insane .680 on-base percentage (17-for-25) in his opportunities. Seven other LCU players are reaching at a clip of .400 or better when leading off, including Bowen (.474) and Lewis (.400), who have handled the lion's share of starts in the one hole this season.
 
RECORD CHASIN'
Lubbock Christian infielder Brevin McCool holds the league's single-game (4), single-season (30) and career (60) home run records. He is one shy of tying the LCU single-season record, set by Barry Wilkins in 1987. That season, Wilkins hit .364 and lead the nation in round-trippers, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors. Wilkins did set the record in 73 games, averaging .425 homers per game. McCool is averaging .545 home runs per game this season. Finally, McCool is three homers away from tying the Lubbock Christian career record. That record has been held for 48 years by John "The Franchise" Harris, who was drafted after his junior season (1976) and eventually made it to the big leagues.
 
TO START WITH…
In last weekend's LSC Tournament, the starting pitchers used by the Chaps included Karson Dunn, Ryan Markwardt and Evan Roach. The trio posted an ERA of 5.06 in 16 innings of work with 13 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .281 against the LCU starters. Eight other players have been used in the starting rotation this season, with Chap starting pitchers posting an 8.15 ERA in 216.1 inning of work this season while striking out 184 batters. SEU is projected to use Kobe Jaramillo, who pitched a complete-game shutout against LCU last weekend, in the first game of the tournament.
 
IN THEIR DEFENSE
Lubbock Christian has the third-best fielding percentage in the Lone Star Conference at .968. They have committed just 61 errors on the year, including 19 games without an error. They are 17-3 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. 8 nationally in double plays turned with 47.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
The Chaps are 16-13 in games played away from the friendly confines, including the one neutral site loss against St. Edward's last weekend. The offense has not been as good in true road games, hitting .312 compared to .391 in games played at Hays Field. The pitching staff, however, has been much better on the road, posting an ERA more than three runs lower away from home. Gutierrez has been the best hitter away from home, posting a .404 average, while Andrew Duran has been excellent on the mound away from home, with a 1.80 ERA in 30 innings of work. Hosted by Angelo State, the regional tournament will be at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium. Renovated in 2016, the field measures 325 down the lines, 370 to the gaps and 395 to deep center.
 
STREAKS & MULTIS
The longest active hitting streak on the team belongs to McCool at six games and was the team's top hitter during last week's tournament at .364. The longest on-base streak belongs to Gutierrez at 11 games, and he also leads the team in multi-hit games at 29, although Nicklaus Baumbach is right on his tail with 28. McCool still leads the team with 19 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 3,451 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,315 wins and 1,136 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 836-388 record.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's have met 79 times on the diamond in a series that began all the way back in 1986. LCU is 43-36 all-time against the Hilltoppers, but the last 10 matchups have been straight down the middle, 5-5. In fact, SEU has won five straight against the Chaps, and LCU had won five straight against the Hilltoppers prior to that. When the two teams met in the winners bracket game of the LSC Tournament last week, it was a pitcher's duel between Jaramillo and Markwardt that ended 1-0 in favor of St. Edward's.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• SEU reached the championship game of last week's LSC Tournament with wins against UT Tyler and LCU, but lost twice to host Angelo State to finish as runner-up
• The Hilltoppers rank ninth in the LSC in batting average at .301, but have drawn a league-leading 324 walks
• Seven SEU baseball players were recognized with LSC postseason honors, including First Team All-Conference selections Jaramillo and Connor Cox
• St. Edward's has the fifth-best staff ERA in the conference at 6.28
• Five SEU players were named to the LSC All-Tournament Team last weekend