AUSTIN, Texas — Lubbock Christian broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the sixth and pulled away late, defeating St. Edward's 10-0 to open the Lone Star Conference First Round series at Lucian-Hamilton Field.
For five innings, the matchup lived up to its billing. Both starters worked efficiently, with Lubbock Christian's Aaron Rubio and St. Edward's
CONNOR FREEMAN trading zeros as neither lineup found sustained traction.
The Chaps broke through in the sixth. Kyle Lewis opened the inning with a solo home run, and after a walk and a catcher's error extended the frame, Ryan Gargett drove in a run with a single through the left side. Carlos Mauldin followed with a two-run home run to left-center, pushing Lubbock Christian in front 4-0.
Lubbock Christian added on in the seventh, capitalizing on a double from Freddie Nolen IV and a pair of Hilltopper errors. Nolen scored on a wild pitch and throwing error, and Hudson Grace later came home on a groundout as the lead grew to 7-0.
The Chaps put the game out of reach in the eighth when Chase Ditmar launched a three-run home run to left, extending the margin to 10-0.
Rubio (9-1) was dominant, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing four hits and striking out four. Tyler Sudderth closed out the game with a scoreless eighth.
Freeman (8-2) took the loss, allowing five runs over 6.1 innings, while Carson Blakely and
LIAM MILLER combined to surrender the final five runs, though two of the seventh-inning runs were unearned.
CONNOR COX,
DAVID RIPPLE,
GRAYSON DOGGETT, and
AUSTIN PAGE each recorded a hit for St. Edward's, which stranded seven runners and committed three errors.
St. Edward's and Lubbock Christian will continue the best-of-three series with Game 2 on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
