LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (6-10, 6-10 LSC) at
No. 13 ANGELO STATE (14-4, 14-4 LSC)
Friday, March 6 – 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 8 – 1 p.m.
Foster Field – San Angelo, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University righted the ship last weekend with a series win against UT Dallas and will now face a tough test as they hit the road for a matchup at No. 13 Angelo State. Taking three of the four games in the series against the Comets gave the Chaps just their second series win of the young season, improving them to 8-10 overall and in Lone Star Conference play. The Rams are coming off a big series sweep at St. Mary's and enter this weekend's series with a 10-4 record. Currently ninth in the LSC standings, LCU has four series left against teams ahead of them and three against teams below them.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Chaparrals have been at their best this season when they are the first team on the scoreboard. They are 5-2 in contests where they score first but have more frequently allowed opponents to score first and are 3-8 in those contests. In two of the three wins against UT Dallas, LCU was the first team to score. Furthermore, the Chaps have allowed their opponent to score in the first inning seven times this season and are 2-5 in those games. They did keep UTD from scoring in the first inning in all four games last weekend.
 
NERVES OF STEAL
LCU stole 14 bases across the three games against UT Dallas, bringing their season total to 46, which is the 16^th-most in Division II. Nine of those steals came in the series finale, 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 14 steals. Hudson Grace and Jorge De Los Santos are right behind him, tied for third in the league, with 11 steals apiece. LCU's 46 steals are already more than the 41 they had last season, in 39 fewer games. 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 2.56 per game this year.
 
TAKE A FREE RIDE
The Chaps enter the weekend with exactly 100 walks drawn already this season, which ranks 21^st in the nation. Just three players – Lewis, De Los Santos and Johnny Gomez III – have combined for more than half of those. De Los Santos ranks fourth in the LSC individually with 19 walks, while Lewis and Gomez III are also in the top 10 with 16 apiece. Hudson Grace is the only other Chap to reach double-digits, with 11. In the series finales against the Comets, LCU walked 11 times, which was their second-most in a game this season. The team is boasting an overall on-base percentage of .430.
 
TO START WITH
Lubbock Christian has used four main starting pitchers so far this year – Karson Dunn, Aaron Rubio, Caden Cline and Kyle England – although last week Aiden Moore was used as an opener before England took the mound. In the starting role, those five pitchers have combined for a 5.69 ERA in 80.2 innings of work. They have struck out 64 batters and limited opponents to a .283 batting average. Dunn ranks fourth in the league among qualifiers with a paltry 2.17 ERA, and he and Rubio are both top ten in the conference in opponent batting average. Cline is the team-leader in strikeouts with 20.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
The LCU bullpen has had its share of ups and downs throughout the season, posting an overall ERA of 11.72 in 53 innings of work. Chap relievers have combined to strike out 57 batters while limiting opponents to a .299 average against. Isaiah Gonzalez has been the most effective reliever, posting a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings of work with an opponent's batting average of just .178. Griffin Binkley is tied with Gonzalez for the most appearances at six and has an ERA of 3.60 in 10 innings on the mound.
 
PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND
LCU's pitching staff overall has been helped often by the defense behind them. The 14 double plays turned this season are the 25th most in Division II and rank fourth in the LSC. Chap pitchers lean ground ball heavy overall, getting 125 groundouts to just 93 flyouts so far this year. Dunn is the most ground ball heavy, with 44 groundouts to just 20 flyouts. Rubio and Cline are tied for the team lead in double plays induced with three apiece.
 
POWER SURGE
Lubbock Christian enters the weekend leading the conference in slugging percentage, with a team mark of .499. A big chunk of that comes from their ability to hit the long ball, with 19 homers already in 2026, which also ranks second in the LSC. Sul Ross is just ahead with 22 this year. Hudson Grace leads the team in slugging percentage at .662. Although he has almost 30 fewer at-bats, Owen Alsup is right behind Graces with a .622 slugging percentage. Roe Forrest, who co-leads the team with three home runs, and Gomez are both also slugging above .500.  
 
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Of their 68 extra-base hits, 42 have gone for doubles, which is the most in the  conference and ranks 13^th in the nation. Lewis and Gomez co-lead the team with six apiece. 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.
 
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.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian is headed back out on the road for the third time this season, where they are 2-5 so far this season. The Chaps are hitting just .256 in their road games, which have been played in Tyler, Texas and Oklahoma City. Grace is the team-leading hitter on the road at .348. Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium, where Angelo State plays its home games, is the former home of the independent league San Angelo Colts. It was renovated in 2016 and now features an artificial turf playing surfaces and 4200 permanent seats. Dimensions are 325 down the lines, 370 to the gaps and 395 to deep center.
 
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 3,468 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,323 wins and 1,145 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 844-400 record.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State has the best staff ERA in the Lone Star Conference at 3.87
• Ram infielder Austin Beck is currently second in the league in batting with a .459 average
• The Rams are tied atop the LSC standings with a 14-4 record and are coming off a sweep at St. Mary's
• ASU leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation in stolen bases with 62
• The Rams are led by Kevin Brooks who is the only head coach the program has ever known and has been at the helm for 22 seasons

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State have been meeting on the diamond since 2010 and have met 62 times overall. The Rams lead the all-time series 39-23, but the matchup has been evenly split 5-5 in the last ten meetings. Last season, the Chaps won the regular season series 3-1, winning all three games on walkoffs. In the postseason, LCU won once, but lost twice to ASU.