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LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (2-4, 2-4 LSC)\u00a0at
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\nOKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (1-5, 1-5 LSC)
\nThursday, Feb. 12 \u2013 1\u00a0p.m. (DH)
\nFriday, Feb. 13 \u2013 1 p.m.
\nSaturday, Feb. 14 \u2013 1 p.m.
\nDobson Field \u2013 Oklahoma City
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\nLEADING OFF
\nThe Chaparrals have played back-to-back three-game series to start the new campaign, but will now begin playing four-game series every weekend. Mother Nature has also forced a shift in this weekend’s schedule, with rain in the forecast Saturday and Sunday. LCU and OC are now playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the doubleheader (featuring two seven inning games) to be played on Thursday. First pitch will be at 1 p.m. every day. The Eagles are 1-5 on the young season, with their lone win coming against UT Dallas.
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\nOFFENSIVE OUTPUT
\nAfter a strong series against Sul Ross in which they scored in double-figures in all three games, Lubbock Christian ranks 18th in the nation in scoring with 10.7 runs per game. The Chaps scored 22 runs in Saturday’s game against the Lobos, which is the second-most by an LSC team this season. They are batting .310 as a team with a slugging percentage of .512. Joe Mancinas<\/a> leads the way with a .474 batting average after hitting .571 against SRSU. Kyle Lewis<\/a> has batted leadoff in the Chaps for every games so far, and leads the LSC and ranks seventh in the nation in runs scored with 12.
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\nDOUBLE OR NOTHING
\nThe Chaps hit a whopping 15 doubles in just three games against Sul Ross. Nine of those came in the Feb. 7 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<\/a>, and by doing so he tied the LCU program record, set by Brevin McCool<\/a> on May 25, 2024. Lubbock Christian’s 20 total doubles are the 11th most in the nation and the second-most in the LSC, behind only UT Dallas. Last season they were third in the conference with 132 two-baggers.
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\nTO START WITH
\nCaden Cline<\/a>, Kyle England<\/a>, Aaron Rubio<\/a> and Karson Dunn<\/a> are projected to fill out the Chaparral rotation for this weekend’s series. Cline picked up the first win of his LCU career last Friday and has limited opponents to just a .270 batting average. Rubio got the save in Cline’s win, tossing four shutout innings and lowering his WHIP to just 0.88. England had a solid first start of the season against UT Tyler, allowing just three earned runs in four innings. Dunn has been the best LCU pitcher through the first two weekends, limiting opponents to just a .231 batting average against. His 1.64 ERA is the lowest in the conference among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched.
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\nOH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
\nBesides Rubio, who now moves from the bullpen to the rotation, LCU has gotten a number of other solid relief outings on the young season. Will Cooper<\/a> had the longest outing of his Chap career on Saturday and has notched a pair of strikeouts in each of his appearances this season. Tate Thompson<\/a> notched his second scoreless appearance by hanging a zero in the ninth on Sunday, and Griffin Binkley<\/a> leads the team with three appearances while posting a 2.70 ERA in 3.1 innings of work. Overall, LCU’s pitching staff has limited opponents to a .311 batting average with 44 strikeouts.
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\nWEARING IT
\nLubbock Christian batters have been hit by a whopping 18 pitches already this season, which is the third-most in the conference and ranks 15th in Division II. Ten of those came in the three games against Sul Ross. Despite being 10th on the team with just 13 at-bats, infielder Tanner Pachorek<\/a> leads the team with four hit-by-pitches so far this season. Oklahoma Christian’s pitching staff is in the exact middle of the league in hit batters so far this season with 13. In 2025, Lubbock Christian was hit just 63 times, which ranked in the bottom half of the conference.
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\nGUESS WHO’S BACK
\nThe Chaparrals return just 15 players from a season ago, including three players who were starters in the field. Those three are outfielder Kyle Lewis<\/a>, first baseman Johnny Gomez III<\/a> and utility player Brock Tijerina<\/a>. Lewis was a Third Team All-LSC selection, batting .373, while Tijerina hit .343, mainly out of the designated hitter spot. Three pitchers who threw at least 30 innings last season are also back, including Evan Roach<\/a>, Karson Dunn<\/a> and Logan Moore<\/a>. Roach was on the mound for 51.2 innings and started 11 times, while Dunn and Moore split time between the rotation and the bullpen.
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\nFROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
\nLCU’s 22 newcomers on the 2026 roster come from all over the North American continent, with a whopping 16 (72 \u00a0percent) 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.
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\nROAD JOURNAL
\nLubbock Christian will be looking for its first road wins of the 2026 season this weekend after going 16-11 away from the friendly confines a season ago. In the three road games so far this season, which came against No. 3 UT Tyler, LCU had three players batting .300 or better while averaging six runs per game. On the mound, they struck out 21 batters in 27 innings of work. Dobson Field, the home of the Eagle baseball team, opened in 2008 and was updated with an artificial turf infield and new scoreboard in 2022.
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\n2000 & COUNTING
\nSince 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 3,456 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,317 wins and 1,139 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood<\/a> leading the program, and he has a 838-394 record.
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\nSCOUTING THE EAGLES<\/p>\n
\n\tOC is batting just .260 as a team so far this season, which is the third-worst mark in the Lone Star Conference
\n\tThe Eagles have lost four straight games, including all three last weekend against St. Mary’s in San Antonio
\n\tJunior catcher Hunter Sandifer leads the OC offense with a .438 batting average in 16 at-bats
\n\tHead coach Lonny Cobble is in his 14th season leading the Eagle baseball program, going 300-331-1 in that time
\n\tBrett McComas has been the best starting pitcher on the Eagle staff, posting a 4.82 ERA in 9.1 innings of work so far this season
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\nTHE SERIES WITH THE EAGLES
\nLubbock Christian and Oklahoma Christian have been meeting on the diamond since all the way back in 1971 \u2013 the inception of the former’s program. In 126 total meetings between the teams, LCU leads the series 80-25-1. The Chaps have won nine out of the last 10 meetings, including a season sweep in 2024, which was the last time they played in Oklahoma City. Last year, LCU took three of four, losing 16-15 in the finale \u2013 a game they trailed 11-0 after the top of the first inning.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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