Baseball | 03.13.2026

LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (10-12, 10-12 LSC) vs.
TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL (10-12, 10-12 LSC)
Friday, March 13 – 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 14 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 15 – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University returns to the friendly confines of Hays Field this weekend to take on Texas A&M International in a four-game series at Hays Field. The Chaps are coming off a big series split on the road against No. 13 Angelo State, while the Dustdevils are coming off a 3-1 series loss against No. 17 St. Mary's. Both teams enter with identical 10-12 records and are tied for eighth in the Lone Star Conference standings. Left on the schedule for LCU after this weekend are three teams currently ahead of them in the standings and three teams currently below them. The top seven teams at the end of the regular season advance to the LSC Tournament.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Lubbock Christian senior Aaron Rubio was named both the Lone Star Conference and South Central Region Pitcher of the Week for week six of the season. Rubio tossed a three-hit shutout with seven strike outs on the road against No. 16 Angelo State. Rubio walked just one batter over the seven innings of work. Only one baserunner made it to third in the 4-0 Chaparral win, as Rubio limited the Rams to just a .130 batting average against. He is the first LCU player to win awards from either the LSC or the NCBWA.
 
TO START WITH
Rubio leads an LCU pitching staff that has been solid through the first half of the season. The starting pitchers for LCU this season have been on the mound for a combined 102 innings, allowing just 59 earned runs for an ERA of 5.21. Opponents are hitting just .271 against the full group. Rubio, Karson Dunn, Dakota McCaskill and Bryce Nall are the projected starting four for this weekend's series after both McCaskill and Nall made their first starts this season last weekend. Rubio and Dunn rank fifth and sixth in the LSC in ERA among qualified pitchers with marks of 2.97 and 3.12, respectively.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
Outside of the starting pitching, LCU's staff has had its share of ups and downs so far in 2026. As a whole, the bullpen has an ERA of 11.82 in 61.2 innings of work and has suffered seven of the Chaps' 12 losses this year. Opponents are hitting just .297 against the LCU relievers, and they have tallied a combined 68 strikeouts. Isaiah Gonzalez has been the best Chaps out of the pen and leads the team with eight appearances. He has 21 strikeouts in 13.1 innings and opponents are batting .200 against him. Griffin Binkley is second on the team in appearances with seven.
 
PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND
LCU's pitching staff overall has been helped often by the defense behind them. The 16 double plays turned this season are the 27th most in Division II and rank fourth in the LSC. Chap pitchers lean ground ball heavy overall, getting 200 groundouts to just 137 flyouts so far this year. Dunn is the most ground ball heavy, with 59 groundouts to just 21 flyouts. Rubio leads the team in double plays induced with four so far this season.
 
NERVES OF STEAL
Lubbock Christian stole eight bases across the three games against Angelo State, bringing their season total to 54, which is the 14th-most in Division II. They have also surpassed last year's season total of 41. The 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, while they are averaging 2.45 per game this year. Nine of their steals came in the 3/1 game against UT Dallas, which is the most they have swiped in a game in the NCAA era (since 2015). Four in that game came from Kyle Lewis, and he now ranks second in the LSC with 15 steals. Jorge De Los Santos (14) and Hudson Grace (11) are both also in the top ten in the conference.
 
LEAVING THE YARD
The Chaps come into the weekend ranked 20^th nationally and second in the conference in home runs with 26. They hit a whopping seven during the weekend series at Angelo State, including two apiece from Owen Alsup and Kyle Lewis. Lewis, Roe Forrest and Johnny Gomez III are in a three-way tie for the team lead in round-trippers with four apiece, which ties them all for ninth in the league. They are averaging 1.18 home runs per game this season. In 2025, they led the league with 89 home runs, averaging 1.56 per game. This weekend's opponent, TAMIU, has allowed just 11 home runs this year, which is the third-fewest in the LSC.
 
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Outside of the 26 home runs, Lubbock Christian has clubbed 50 doubles, which is the third-most in the LSC and ranks 15^th in Division II. Alsup and Grace co-lead the team with seven apiece, and another five players have at least five each. 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 Alsup, and by doing so he tied the LCU program record, set by Brevin McCool on May 25, 2024. Four doubles is also the single-game record for the conference.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Chaparrals have been at their best this season when they are the first team on the scoreboard. They are 6-3 in contests where they score first but have more frequently allowed opponents to score first and are 4-9 in those contests. Furthermore, the Chaps have allowed their opponent to score in the first inning seven times this season and are 2-5 in those games. The Chaps scored first in two of the games at Angelo State, going 1-1 in those contests.
 
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 is the second straight home weekend for the Chaps and games 12 through 15 of 27 total home games Lubbock Christian will play this season at the recently renovated Hays Field, where they are currently 6-5. 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 1,206-372 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 3,472 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,325 wins and 1,147 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 846-402 record.
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS

• Texas A&M International batters have struck out just 125 times this season, which is the second-fewest in the conference
• TAMIU has won two series this season, against UT Permian Basin and Sul Ross
• The Dustdevils have a team ERA of 7.22, and they have struck out just 119 batters, which is the fewest in the league
• TAMIU took one of four at home last weekend against St. Mary's – the same result the Chaps had when they took on the Rattlers
• Dustdevil Eddie Saenz ranks third in the conference in batting average at .436

 
THE SERIES WITH THE DUSTDEVILS
Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M International began meeting on the diamond in 2014, when the former joined the Division II ranks and the Heartland Conference. The Chaps control the all-time series 37-12, and they have been downright dominant at Hays Field, winning 20 of the 22 meetings.  The Dustdevils had an 11-0 win the last time they came to Lubbock in 2024, and their only other win came in 2019. The Chaps are 6-4 against TAMIU in the last 10 meetings and won the series against them last year.