Chaps "Burn" MACU

LUBBOCK, Texas (May 4, 2011) – Ryan Burnaman became the first player in Lubbock Christian University program history to have a pair of triples in a game twice, as his pair of triples Wednesday in pool play of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament against Mid-America Christian capped a 4-for-5 performance and led the No.9 Chaparrals to an 18-5 victory at Hays Field.

Evangels starting pitcher David Wynn posted a season-high 14 strikeouts in his previous outing at Hays Field, but he would have little success in his second go-around against the Chaps.  He would leave three batters into the second inning after allowing six runs on five hits without registering a strikeout.  After giving up the first run of the game in the top half of the first inning, the Chaps responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.  A two-run double with two outs by Chandler Griffin capped the scoring in the inning.  A fielder’s choice RBI by Ryan Meade and a sacrifice fly by Karl Seiter in the second inning allowed LCU to jump out to a 6-1 advantage.  Ivan Juvera relieved Wynn in the second inning and held LCU to two hits over three innings, which allowed MACU to cut into their deficit.  Luis Martinez, who had a triple leading to a 1-0 lead in the first inning for MACU, hit a solo home run in the third inning.  Jeff Eubank hit his second double of the game following the home run and he was driven home by Adrian Bravo-Carmona’s single to centerfield.  That cut LCU’s lead to 6-3.  LCU finally got to Juvera in the fifth inning.  Nate Peterson, who had homered off Juvera in the regular season, hit a solo home run as part of a four-run fifth inning.  Burnaman had his first triple in the fifth inning, which drove in a pair of runs.  He eventually scored on a wild pitch by Juvera.  The Chaps bats stayed alive in the sixth inning, as they produced eight hits off the combination of three different Evangel pitchers leading to eight runs in the inning.  LCU sent 12 batters to the plate, with six hits coming on consecutive batters.  Richard Bohlken led off the surge with his NAIA leading 22nd home run of the season.  LCU hit for the cycle as a team in the inning, as Meade and Seiter each hit doubles and Burnaman scored another pair of runs on his second triple of the game to go along with a trio of Chap singles in the inning. 

Burnaman hit a pair of triples for a second time this season, marking the first player in Chaps history to have a pair of triples in a single game twice.  His first game with two triples came on Mar. 11 against Rogers State University.  The two triples in a game matches a program single-game record.  He finished with four runs-batted-in, as he extended his hit streak to 14 games.  Six Chaps had multi-hit performances.  Bohlken finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.  Eubank went 4-for-4 with three doubles in the losing cause for MACU.  Mike Marshall claimed the win on the mound for LCU.  He was impressive with nine strikeouts and he did not walk any batters while improving to 7-0 on the season in the complete game.  LCU scored 11 two-out runs in the game, as LCU went 12-for-19 as a team with two outs.  All four of Burnaman’s RBI came with two outs.

The Chaps improve to 42-11 with the win, while MACU falls to 18-30.  In the new SAC Tournament format, LCU will need to win their pool to advance to the tournament championship game.  LCU is 1-0 in their pool, joining Oklahoma Baptist, who defeated Wayland Baptist 6-1 Wednesday in Plainview, Texas.  LCU and OBU will face each other Thursday night at 6 p.m. from Hays Field.