Championship Preview

GULF SHORES, Ala. (May 17, 2011) – The No.9 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals, who are in their fourth season in program history, are making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Championship, which begins play Thursday at Gulf Shores Sportsplex. TOURNAMENT LINKS / WATCH ONLINE / ONLINE AUDIO LINK / LIVE SCORING / BRACKET & SCHEDULE / PRESS BOOK

32 teams complete the field, with teams separated into eight four-team pools.  LCU is in a field being joined with No.13 Reinhardt University (Ga.), Simpson University (Calif.) and defending national champion Simon Fraser University (B.C.).  Teams must win their pools to advance to the eight-team double elimination bracket.

LCU enters the tournament with an all-time record of 14-4 at the championships.  The Lady Chaps have made it out of pool play twice and won a NAIA title in 2008.  They are 50-9 overall and were the regular season co-champions in the Sooner Athletic Conference.  LCU leads the NAIA in stolen bases (155), rank second in hits (603) and third in runs scored (468), RBI (425), and batting (.374).  Kayla Van Dieren is second in the NAIA in hits with 89, with seven resulting in triples (fifth in the NAIA).  Kim Frazier ranks fourth in the NAIA with 19 home runs, and also ranks sixth in total bases (147), eighth in slugging (.907) and ninth in RBI (65).  LCU has a team ERA of 2.11 and Amanda Longorio is second in the NAIA with six saves.

Reinhardt is based in Waleska, Ga. and they come out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, where they went 14-0.  The Eagles are 40-8 and riding an 18-game win streak entering the championships.  They are making their first trip to the championships.  They rank third in the NAIA in triples (20), fifth in stolen gases per game (2.8) and sixth in ERA (1.50). 

No.23 Simon Fraser is in their final year of NAIA play.  They have a 14-23 record playing a NCAA Div. II schedule as a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The Clan is in their transition year, so they were eligible to qualify to the national championships by winning the independent tournament.  SFU is 59-23 all-time in 15 appearances at the national championships and they have claimed four titles, including last season. 

Redding, Calif. based Simpson University is a member of the California Pacific Conference, where they went 12-3 in conference play.  Simpson, 28-16 overall, is making their first ever trip to the national championships.  The Red Hawks rank seventh in the NAIA in triples with 19 on the season. 

Play for LCU begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Simpson University, and it resumes with a noon meeting against Simon Fraser Friday before closing out pool play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Reinhardt.  All of LCU’s pool play matches can be viewed online at www.lcuchaps.com. Online audio and live scoring will also be available.  Thursday’s game can be heard locally in Lubbock on KKAM 1340 AM “The Fan.”