A Senior Salute !

LUBBOCK, Texas (April 30, 2011) – It was fitting that No.7 Lubbock Christian University celebrated Senior Day Saturday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park in a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader against Southern Nazarene University.  The Lady Chaparrals received a three-run home run from senior Kayla Van Dieren to rally from a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning, a sacrifice fly from senior Amanda Parsons to tie the game 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, and a walk-off three-run home run from senior Priscilla FaGaines in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 9-6 victory.  The win completed a doubleheader sweep, as LCU won the opener 6-1.  The wins allow LCU to clinch at least a share of the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title and it allowed the Lady Chaps to close out the regular season with a perfect 16-0 home record.

Stephanie Rendon hit a home run to left centerfield to start the scoring for LCU in the second game and providing LCU a 1-0 lead, but they mostly played from behind. SNU took advantage of LCU mishaps and chipped away scoring one run in the third through eighth innings.  They scored on a wild pitch in the third inning and Kelli Billups hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to give the Crimson Storm a 2-1 lead.  A dropped fly ball led to SNU getting a run in the fifth inning, and they made it 4-1 in the sixth inning with a trio of singles producing a run.  SNU took a 5-1 lead in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly by Kristina Forest, but the four run advantage would not be enough to hold off the Lady Chaps.  Parsons, the final member of the 2008 NAIA title winning team still on the roster, started the rally with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Cori Enriquez then singled and it set up an RBI single by FaGaines to cut the deficit to 5-2.  Van Dieren came up and hit a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence to tie the game at 5-5.  Each team scored a run in the eighth inning with the international tiebreaking rule in effect.  In the ninth, LCU turned a 3-5 fielder’s choice to prevent the Crimson Storm from having a runner 60 feet away from home plate.  It paid off, as a single by Daphne Stewart did not lead to a run.  A foul out and fielder’s choice allowed LCU to get out of the inning without a run scoring.  In the bottom of the inning, Latainna Eltsosie bunted a base hit placing runners at the corners and FaGaines followed hitting a three-run home run to end the game with a 9-6 walk-off victory.

The home run for FaGaines capped a 4-for-5 performance at the plate in the game with four RBI.  Amanda Longorio claimed the win, pitching the final 1.2 innings and allowing one hit.  She improved to 9-1 on the season.  Kaci Crawford pitched the entire game for SNU and had her record fall to 20-6.

The opener was highlighted by a solid pitching performance from Meagan Navarrette for the Lady Chaps.  She faced one batter over the minimum and allowed just two hits in the complete game.  After allowing a hit in the fifth inning, Navarrette nearly had a one hit shutout, but she allowed a solo home run Katie Hale with two outs in the seventh inning.  Navarette improved to 16-0 with the win.  LCU got on the scoreboard early with Eltsosie grounding out to score a run in the first inning.  The Lady Chaps added to the 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by Parsons, and Van Dieren singled up the middle to score a run in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead.  Van Dieren’s single turned out to be the only hit for LCU in which a run was scored.  An error allowed a pair of runs to score in the sixth inning and Enriquez grounded out in the inning to cap the three-run sixth inning to extend LCU’s lead to 6-0 before the late SNU home run.

LCU closes out the regular season 46-7 overall and they completed conference play with a 22-4 SAC record.  SNU’s overall record dropped to 42-14 overall and 16-10 in SAC play.  The Lady Chaps are atop the SAC standings and Oklahoma City University could match their record, as they have two games in hand.  If OCU loses one of their final two games, LCU will be the outright regular season conference champions.  LCU is off until the SAC Tournament next weekend in Oklahoma City.