LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (4-6, 4-6 LSC) vs.
ST. MARY'S (9-1, 9-1 LSC)
Friday, Feb. 20 – 4 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 21 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, Feb. 22 – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian returns home for an extended stay at Hays Field this weekend, playing their next eight games at the friendly confines, including this weekend's series against St. Mary's. The Chaps are coming off a series split at Oklahoma Christian and are still trying to get above .500, while the Rattlers have had one of the hottest starts to the season of any Lone Star Conference team. They are 9-1 on the year with the sole loss coming against UT Dallas last weekend. LCU's offense heated up while in the Sooner State, while Karson Dunn continued his hot start to the season. The Chaps will be trying to start a win streak of their own this weekend as they host the Rattlers for four games.
 
POWER SURGE
The Chaparrals had a big weekend at the plate in Oklahoma, batting .300 as a team with nine doubles, one triple and seven homers for a .567 slugging percentage. For the season, they now have a .533 team slugging percentage, which leads the LSC and ranks 29^th nationally. The also have the second-most home runs in the league at 14, a mark that ranks 14^th in all of Division II. Outfielder Hudson Grace leads the team in slugging at .765 and has clubbed three home runs, including two in the series finale at OC. Carlos Mauldin, Roe Forrest and Kyle Lewis are all also slugging above .600 with at least 10 at-bats.
 
REAL STEAL
LCU has swiped 20 bases so far this season, which is the third-most in the conference and 42^nd nationally. They might not seem like eye-popping numbers, but for the Chap program is quite the level of larceny. Averaging 2.0 stolen bases per game puts them on pace for 100 in the regular season. They most bases the Chaps have stolen in the NCAA era is 87 in 2024, but even that season they only averaged 1.42 per game. Lewis, Grace and Jorge De Los Santos have all stolen at least five bases apiece already this year.
 
WALK LIKE A MAN
Chaparral batters walked 20 times during the series at OC and has now walked 58 times this season, a mark that ranks fifth in the conference. De Los Santos leads the way with 12 walks, a mark that is second in the LSC and 12^th nationally. Johnny Gomez III is right behind him with 11 free passes to rank third in the league. As a team, the Chaps are reaching base at a .437 clip, which ranks seventh in the LSC.
 
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Lubbock Christian added nine more doubles to their season total last weekend after hitting 15 in the three games against Sul Ros. They now have 29 doubles this year, which is the most in the LSC and 9^th-most in Division II. Lewis leads the team, ranks 11^th nationally and second in the conference with six. In the Feb. 7 game against SRSU, the team had nine doubles in one game, which was the most they'd had in a game since they had 10 on May 18, 2024 against UT Permian Basin. Four of those came from designated hitter Owen Alsup, and by doing so he tied the LCU program record, set by Brevin McCool on May 25, 2024.
 
TO START WITH
So far this season, the Chaps have used Caden Cline, Kyle England, Karson Dunn and Aaron Rubio in the starting rotation. Dunn has had the best start to the season, not just for the Chaps, but of any LSC pitcher. He has an ERA of just 1.00 with only two earned runs allowed all season. Opponents are batting just .197 against him. Against OC, he tossed seven shutout innings, and no runner made it past second base while he was on the mound. Rubio has limited opponents to a .222 average, while Cline has notched 10 strikeouts in 10.1 innings.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
LCU's bullpen has shown flashes of brilliance of brilliance at points this season and struggled at others, posting a 10.73 ERA overall in 50.1 innings of work. Isaiah Gonzalez has been the best reliever so far, posting a 2.45 ERA in three appearances. Last Thursday he tossed five innings of relief without allowing a hit against the Eagles. Griffin Binkley leads the team in relief appearances with four and has a 4.26 ERA. Left-hander Tate Thompson has also been effective out of the pen, holding opponents to a .182 batting average against.
 
WEARING IT
Lubbock Christian batters have been hit by a whopping 24 pitches already this season, which is the third-most in the conference and ranks 18^th in Division II. Ten of those came in the three games against Sul Ross. Despite being seventh on the team with just 26 at-bats, infielder Tanner Pachorek leads the team with five hit-by-pitches so far this season. In 2025, Lubbock Christian was hit just 63 times, which ranked in the bottom half of the conference. The St. Mary's pitching staff has been the best in the league so far this season, drilling just eight batters in their 10 games played.
 
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
LCU's 22 newcomers on the 2026 roster come from all over the North American continent, with a whopping 16 (72  percent) hailing from outside of the Lone Star State. The largest contingent from outside of Texas come from Colorado (5), but they also have players from New Mexico, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Mexico and even Sitka, Alaska, which more than 3000 miles away from Lubbock.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
This weekend marks games four through seven of 27 total home games Lubbock Christian will play this season at the recently renovated Hays Field, where they are currently 2-1. 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. The field features brand new artificial turf, expanded dugouts and a new padded backstop this year and will have new grandstands in time for the 2027 season. The Chaparrals are 1,202-368 in home games all-time.
 
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 3,460 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,319 wins and 1,141 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 840-396 record.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS

• StMU has scored the most runs in the LSC so far this year (116), despite falling in the middle of the pack with a .292 team batting average
• Infielder Dillon Lopez leads the offense with a .375 batting average and a .750 batting average
• The Rattlers have blasted 16 home runs this season, which is the most in the conference, but nine of those came in the three games against Sul Ross
• StMU's one loss came in the series opener against UT Dallas, and Comet pitcher David Dean won the league's pitcher of the week award for his performance in the game
• St. Mary's 5.57 team ERA is the fifth-best in the conference

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RATTLERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's have met 63 times on the diamond all time, with the Chaps currently holding the edge in the series 35-28. LCU is 7-3 in the last 10 matchups, but the two teams split the four-game series last season in San Antonio. StMU's last win in Lubbock was on Feb. 19, 2022 in a game that saw the Rattlers cut down they tying run at the plate in the bottom of the final inning. The Chaps bounced back with a walkoff win in the nightcap that gave Nathan Blackwood the LCU program record for coaching wins.