LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (33-19, 30-18) at
NO. 1 ANGELO STATE (41-7, 39-7 LSC)
Thursday, May 8, 2025 – 6 p.m.
Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium – San Angelo, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
It was all chalk in the opening round of the 2025 Lone Star Conference Tournament, with the higher seeded team winning every matchup. Lubbock Christian and UT Tyler both took care of business, while St. Edward's went down to the wire, beating St. Mary's in walkoff fashion in the winner-take-all third game. The three teams will now head to San Angelo, Texas, where the No. 1 seed Angelo State (who received a first round bye) will host the double-elimination second round. The champion at the end of the weekend will receiving the league's automatic qualification into the NCAA Tournament. LCU is the reigning LSC Tournament Champion, winning at Hays Field in 2024.
 
POSTSEASON PLAY
This is LCU's fifth-straight trip to the Lone Star Conference Tournament, which includes every year they have been in the league (except 2020, when no tournament was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Chaps are 15-7 all-time in the league's postseason matchups, including winning last year's conference tournament title without taking a loss. They have been a top four seed in four of their five tournament appearances and have advanced to the final site four times in five tries as well, including doing so as the No. 6 seed in 2021.
 
ROUND ONE RECAP
The No. 4 seed Chaps advanced to the second round of the LSC Tournament with a win in the best-of-three series against West Texas A&M, avoiding the third game of the series altogether. It was not a series without drama, though. In game one, LCU trailed by as many as eight runs and they were down by five heading into the bottom of the ninth before scoring six straight to walk it off. Lubbock Christian trailed again early in game two, but they pounded out 17 hits to outscore the Buffs and end their season.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Eight Chaps were honored at Wednesday night'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. 5 nationally in slugging percentage (.592), No. 5 in scoring (10.5), No. 5 in home runs (84), No. 3 in hits (617) and No. 7 in batting average (.352). They are also second nationally in walks drawn with 308 for a team on-base percentage of .457. Six of the nine Chaparral starters are batting at least .330 on the season, including Jacob Gutierrez, Brevin McCool and Nicklaus Baumbach all batting above .400. LCU hit a whopping .415 against West Texas A&M with four doubles, two triples and three home runs.
 
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 .577 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…
It's a double-elimination tournament, so there's no telling how many games the Chaps are actually going to play and therefore how many starting pitchers they need. Playing just two games last weekend, they used the ace of the staff, Ryan Markwardt, in game one followed by Logan Moore in game two. Nine other players have been used in the starting role at different points this season, and the starters have posted an 8.40 ERA in 200.1 innings of work. Evan Roach has the most starts of any Chap not named Markwardt with 10, but has been used in relief each of the last two weekends.
 
IN THEIR DEFENSE
Lubbock Christian has the third-best fielding percentage in the Lone Star Conference at .968. They have committed just 57 errors on the year, including 19 games without an error. They are 17-2 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 44.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
The Chaps went 15-11 away from the friendly confines during the regular season. They hit a whopping 78 points worse on the road (.313 vs. .391), but have a much better ERA (7.04 vs. 9.39). Gutierrez has been the best hitter on the road with a .415 average, and Baumbach is batting .398 in away games. Andrew Duran has been excellent on the mound in road games, posting a 1.59 ERA in 28.1 innings of work. Hosted by Angelo State, the second round of the tournament will be at Foster Field at 1^st 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
Chavez's 15-game reached base streak came to an end this past weekend, leaving Baumbach with the longest active streak. The Chap first basemen has reached in 11 straight games, and has hits in all of those contests as well. Gutierrez also has hits in eight straight and leads the team with 29 multi-hit games. Baumbach is not far behind with 27 multi-hit games. McCool still leads the team in multi-RBI games with 19.
 
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 3,448 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,314 wins and 1,134 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 835-386 record.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State have met 59 times on the diamond overall, with the first meeting coming in 2010. The Rams lead the all-time series 37-29, but LCU leads in the last 10 games 6-4. In the regular season series at Hays Field, LCU won three of four, with all three wins coming in walkoff fashion. It was ASU's only series loss of the regular season.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State leads the conference in batting average (.378) and ranks second in the league in ERA (4.78)
• The Rams placed four players on the All-LSC First Team, four on the Second Team and four on the Third Team
• ASU's team on-base percentage of .503 not only leads the conference, but is the best in all of Division II
• The Rams were the D-II national runner-up in 2024 and won the national championship in 2023
• ASU leads the conference and ranks No. 31 nationally with 117 stolen bases