By: Everett Corder (everett.corder@lcu.edu)


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LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (28-18, 28-18 LSC) vs.
UT PERMIAN BASIN (13-33, 13-33 LSC)
Friday, April 24 – 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 25 – 2 p.m. (DH)

Sunday, April 26 – 1 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
It is the final series of the regular season for Lubbock Christian University, and they get to close out the 2026 slate at Hays Field against UT Permian Basin. Friday is military appreciation night and Sunday is Senior Day. The Chaps have won 10 out of their last 12 games, including a series sweep at Cameron last weekend. If the season ended today, they would be the No. 5 seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, as they are a half game back of St. Edward’s. They need to win one more game this weekend than the Hilltoppers do in order to jump to the No. 4 spot and earn the right to host a first round series in the LSC Tournament next week. SEU is on the road for a four-game series against UT Dallas this weekend.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Chaparrals scored in the first inning of all four games at Cameron and six straight games overall. This season, they are 13-7 when they score in the first inning and an even better 16-6 when they are the first team to score. Conversely, they are 12-12 when the opposing team scores first and have a losing record of 7-9 when they allow a run in the first inning. LCU has outscored their opponents overall in the first inning this season, plating 42 runs in the first compared to just 30 for opposing teams.
 
TO START WITH
Seven different pitchers have made at least one start for the Chaparrals this season, and the rotation has been solid throughout 2026. LCU’s team ERA of 6.04 is fourth in the conference, which is their highest mark since joining the LSC (2020) and their starters have been even better with a 4.80 ERA in 223 innings of work. Karson Dunn has been the mainstay of the rotation, posting a 3.88 ERA (eighth in the league) in a team-leading 67.1 innings. Aaron Rubio came out of the bullpen for the first two weeks of the season, but in 10 starts has a 3.51 ERA and a team-leading 53 strikeouts. Last week against Cameron, Bryce Nall struck out 13 batters across seven innings, which is the most by a Chap since 2019. LCU starters have struck out a total of 185 batters, and opponents are hitting .275 against them.
 
PITCHER’S BEST FRIEND
Lubbock Christian enters this weekend’s series ranked ninth nationally in double plays turned with 40, including three during the series against Cameron. They have turned a season-high three in one game two different times this season LCU’s pitching staff is ground ball heavy, getting 381 outs on the ground compared to 289 through the air. Karson Dunn gets the most groundouts with 96 to just 44 flyouts, and he leads the pitching staff with 11 double plays induced.
 
POWER SURGE
Lubbock Christian leads the conference and ranks No. 41 nationally in slugging percentage with a mark of .504. They lead the conference and are ranked No. 23 nationally in doubles with 100 this season. They also rank fifth in D-II in triples with 19, and their 50 home runs are tied for the most in the conference. Roe Forrest is the team leader, slugging .619 with 10 doubles, two triples and a team-leading nine homers. Hudson Grace is not far behind at .608, with a team-leading 16 doubles and six triples, which is tied for the LSC lead.
 
NERVES OF STEAL
With a whopping 11 stolen bases last weekend against the Aggies, Lubbock Christian has officially set a new NCAA-era program record. They have 99 steals on the year, breaking the 2024 team’s mark of 87. That season though, the team averaged just 1.42 steals per game, whereas this season they are averaging 2.15 per contest. Kyle Lewis and Jorge De Los Santos are tied for the team lead and third in the LSC with 25 steals apiece, which also matches the individual LCU record in the NCAA era, set by Carson Ogilvie in 2024. With Tanner Pachorek recording his first two steals of the season last weekend, 12 different players have now stolen at least one base for the Chaps.
 
PLUG AND PLAY
Due mainly to injuries, the Chaparrals have used a large number of different starting lineups throughout the 46 games played so far this season. There have been four different players to start at second base, four have started as the designated hitter and a whopping five different LCU players have started at least two games at third base. The only position on the field where only one player has started all 46 games – Kyle Lewis in center field.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
OPS is a statistic that adds on-base percentage and slugging percentage to get one number that unites the two. It’s meant to combine how well a hitter can reach base, with how well he can hit for average and for power. One issue with OPS is that the on-base part is calculated with plate appearances, while the slugging percentage part is calculated on at-bats. League average for MLB is usually between .700 and .750. Anything above .900 is considered elite. LCU’s team-leader in OPS at 1.076 is Ryan Gargett, who reaches base at a .468 clip and has a .608 slugging percentage, albeit in only 29 appearances. Grace (1.062) and De Los Santos (1.069) are the only other two LCU players above 1.000.
 
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
These are the final four games remaining at home, where the Chaps are 16-7 this season. 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 1,216-374 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 3,492 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,340 wins and 1,152 losses in that time. For the last 23 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 861-407 record.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS


UTPB is 4-19 in road games this season. Their last road win was on March 8 at Eastern New Mexico
The Falcon pitching staff has the third-highest ERA in the LSC at 9.42
Junior UTPB Gael Bernal ranks fifth in the conference with a .414 batting average, including eight doubles, two triples and three home runs
As a team, the Falcons are in the top half of the league in hitting with a .311 team batting average
Head coach Justin Phillips is in his second season leading the Falcons after previously serving as the head baseball coach at Trinity Christian in Lubbock

 
THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
Lubbock Christian and UT Permian Basin have met 51 times on the diamond in total, with the Chaps holding the series edge 40-11. LCU is 26-3 against UTPB in games played at Hays Field. The only three losses came in the opening series of the 2024 season, but the Chaps bounced back and won four games in the postseason against the Falcons. Last year, the two teams split the four-game series played in Odessa.