LUBBOCK, Texas (May 3, 2025) – Lubbock Christian secured their spot in the second round of the Lone Star Conference tournament, once again erasing an early deficit to beat West Texas A&M 17-12 on Saturday at Hays Field.
 
The Chaps scored in four of their eight innings at the plate as they improved to 33-19 on the season. Senior Andrew Duran (7-1) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Lubbock Christian. The right-hander went four innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits, allowing one walk and striking out seven. Evan Roach closed out the game with 3.1 innings of work, earning his first save of the season in the process.
 
All nine starters had hits for LCU, led by Nicklaus Baumbach and Jacob Gutierrez with three apiece. Baumbach included a homer as one of his three hits – his first at Hays Field this season. Kyle Lewis and Kade York both homered for the Chaps as well.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs got on the board first again, scoring a run in the first and three in the second to take an early four-run lead.
 
LCU got on the board in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from York and a two-run home run from Lewis.
 
WT got a run back in the third to lead 5-3, but the Chaps took the lead for good in the bottom of the game. It was a two-out rally that put LCU on top. Brevin McCool got things going with an infield single and Gutierrez followed with a double before Baumbach clubbed his home run over the wall in left center.
 
The Chaps piled on the runs in the fifth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six. Aidan Finnegan led off the inning with a single, and Lewis drove in the first two runs with a triple. McCool drove in a run with a single, one scored on a wild pitch, and Brock Tijerina drove in the final two with another single.
 
It was a good thing they scored those six too, because the Buffs immediately answered back with six of their own. Duran gave up five of the runs in the sixth before Roach was called on. He gave up one more before finally getting a flyout to keep the Chaps up by one.
 
Lubbock Christian went scoreless in the sixth, but Roach kept the Buffs off the board in the seventh before LCU's offense got back to work. The Chaps loaded the bases with one out and called on Johnny Gomez III to pinch hit. He came through with a two-run single, and a batter later York hit his three-run bomb to increase LCU's lead to six again.
 
The Buffs scored a run in the eighth, but Roach used a double play to limit the damage, and he sat WT down in order in the ninth to close out the win.
 
GAME NOTES
» Since the start of April (18 games), Chap outfielder Kyle Lewis is batting .500 with nine doubles, two triples and three home runs.
» Lubbock Christian went 7-for-13 (.538) with runners in scoring position.
» LCU turned three double plays in the game, which matched their single-game season high. They previously also turned three double plays against TAMUK on 3/22 and against WT on 4/4.
» On the flip side, the four errors committed by the Chaps also tied their single-game high for this season. They did it against WT on 4/7 and against St. Edward's on 3/30.
» With his three hits in four at-bats, Baumbach is now batting above .400 at .404. That mark is tied for 11^th-best in the LSC.