LUBBOCK, Texas (May 9, 2021) – Needing a win to secure third place in the final Lone Star Conference regular-season baseball standings, Oklahoma Christian struggled to find any offensive rhythm on Sunday afternoon against Lubbock Christian (Texas).
Five Lubbock Christian pitchers combined to limit OC to three hits and the Chaparrals rallied from an early deficit for a 9-1 win at Hays Field, giving LCU the win in the three-game series.
OC (24-14, 21-12 LSC) fell behind Texas A&M-Kingsville (20-10, 19-10) in the league standings by percentage points after TAMUK closed the regular season with a 13-4 win at Cameron on Sunday. The Javelinas finished with a .655 winning percentage in LSC play, while OC closed at .636.
The Eagles will host fifth-place St. Mary's (Texas) (22-18, 19-14) in a best-of-three series in the first round of the LSC postseason tournament, which will start Friday at 6 p.m. The teams will play again at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the if-necessary game to follow. The winner will advance to the second round of the tournament, on the home field of the highest remaining seed.
St. Mary's won two of three games against OC to start the season, with the Eagles winning 16-14 on Feb. 4 before the Rattlers swept a doubleheader on Feb. 5 by scores of 18-7 and 6-5.
OC will be making its first conference-tournament appearance since 2016, when the Eagles advanced to the title game of the Heartland Conference tournament.
The Eagles took a quick 1-0 lead over Lubbock Christian (19-21, 17-19) in the top of the first inning on Sunday, as
Cole Lee walked and eventually scored on a groundout by
Tanner White. But after that, the Eagles – playing without the LSC's leading hitter,
Chance Westervelt – managed only singles by
Jordan Kennedy in the second inning,
Coleton Hinkle in the sixth inning and
Austin McCain in the seventh inning and didn't advance a runner past second base.
Lubbock Christian took the lead for good with a two-run second inning off OC starter
Julien Ly (3-2), with Edgar Hernandez's RBI single putting the Chaparrals ahead. Colin Gordon added a run-scoring triple in the third and the Chaparrals tacked on four more runs in the fourth.
Gordon drove in four runs while Caden Hensley had three RBIs for Lubbock Christian. LCU starter Shandon Herrera (6-2) allowed only one hit in 3 2/3 innings to pick up the pitching win.
