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LUBBOCK, Texas (November 20, 2025) – Lubbock Christian University Head Baseball Coach Nathan Blackwood has announced the 2026 schedule, which will open on Jan. 30.
The Chaparrals begin the 2026 campaign on the road this year, heading East to take on defending South Central Region Champion UT Tyler for three games. LCU’s home opener will come a week later on Feb. 6, when they host Sul Ross for three games.
Those are the only two scheduled three-game series for the Chaps, but do represent a change in the setup for 2026, which now features conference opponents for all 50 games. With the addition of UT Dallas to the league, there is now no room for non-conference matchups. Every Lone Star Conference team will play a pair of three-game series to start the season, followed by 11 four-game series against the remaining league teams.
This setup gives Lubbock Christian exactly 25 home games and exactly 25 road games.
After Sul Ross, the remaining home opponents include St. Mary’s, UT Dallas, Texas A&M International, St. Edward’s, Eastern New Mexico and UT Permian Basin.
The Chaps will play all of those home games at the newly renovated Hays Field, which is currently under construction. Phase one of the project will be completed prior to the start of the 2026 season and includes state-of-the-art field turf across the entire playing surface, professional-style dugouts with built-in restrooms and a new padded backstop wall, among numerous other upgrades.
Road matchups for LCU include UTT, Oklahoma Christian, Angelo State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, West Texas A&M and Cameron.
At the end of the regular season, the top seven teams in the LSC standings will make the league’s postseason tournament. The No. 1 seed has a bye in the first round with seeds 2, 3 and 4 hosting a best-of-three series in the first round. Winners of first-round series advance to the double-elimination championship round hosted by the No. 1 seed May 8-10.
The LSC Tournament winner will receive the league’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament, along with the RMAC Tournament winner and four other at-large bids. The South Central Regional will be hosted by the top two seeds May 14-17, followed by the Super Regional May 22-23. The winner will represent the South Central Region in Cary, North Carolina at the Division II World Series.
Lubbock Christian is coming of a 2025 season that saw them go 34-23, finishing third in the Lone Star Conference and reaching the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive season.