Lone Star Baseball Tournament Preview

The Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship is finally here, and it promises to be an exciting showdown between the best teams in the league. The tournament kicks off with the first weekend of action featuring four thrilling best-of-three series played at the higher seed's home fields. Due to the forecasted weather, the first game of every series has been moved to Saturday, May 2nd, ensuring a full slate of action to begin the road to the double-elimination finals.

All games will be streamed on flobaseball.tv, fans can sign up using this link: tinyurl.com/d2baseball

For times and links to video and stats, go to our conference tournament hub: diviibaseball.com/conf-tournament-hub

Here’s how the format works:

Weekend 1 will be a best-of-3 at the higher seeds home fields.

Weekend 2 will be a four-team double elimination bracket, hosted by No.1 Seed UT Tyler at Irwin Field

Here’s what the second weekend will look like per the Lone Star website (all times Central):Double-Elimination Tournament

Irwin Field in Tyler, Texas

Thursday, May 7

Game 1: [2] ASU / [7] TAMUK winner vs. [3] StMU / [6] WT winner, 2 p.m.

Game 2: [1] UT Tyler vs. [4] SEU / [5] LCU winner, 6 p.m.

Friday, May 8

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11 a.m.

Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m.

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 9

Championship Game: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.

Championship Game 2 (if necessary): 30 minutes following

Full Bracket:

Below is a breakdown of each team, their overall record, and some players to watch.

#2 Seed Angelo State (34-16) vs #7 Seed Texas A&M Kingsville (25-25)

Schedule:

Game 1: Saturday, May 2nd - 3 PM CT

Game 2: Sunday, May 3rd - 3 PM CT

Game 3: Monday, May 4th - 1 PM CT (If Necessary)

Angelo State had some early road bumps in the season that pushed them out of our rankings for the first time in a few years. At one point in the year, the Rams were 20-11 and finished 14-5 to climb all the way back to the 2nd seed. One thing that didn’t waver is the Angelo State offense, who ranked 3rd with a .318 batting average, 2nd with a .446 on-base percentage, and 1st with 172 stolen bases (2nd in all of D2 Baseball). The Rams also sport the 2nd best ERA in the conference (5.01) and the 2nd best batting average against (.263).

Austin Beck is the man of the hour for Angelo State, leading the team with a .370, 20 doubles, 57 RBI, and 42 stolen bases. Beck is the engine that goes for the team. Matter of fact, he’s third in the country in stolen bases and ninth in doubles. Beeck also broke the NCAA D2 All-Time Career Runs Record with now 304 runs. Another key contributor at the plate is Brett Smajstrla, who has 21 extra base hits (9 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs) and leads the team with a 1.089 OPS.

Garrett Baumann got off to a rough start to begin the season for Angelo State, but has become the team’s top arm out of the bullpen. Over 21 appearances (2 starts), Baumann is 9-4 with a 3.74 ERA over 53 innings. Garrett Villa is the most used reliever in the Rams bullpen with 26 appearances with a 3.62 ERA.

Texas A&M Kingsville enters as the 7th seed and their calling card is strikeouts. As a pitching staff, the Javelinas have recorded 401 strikeouts, the most in the Lone Star Conference. While the pitching staff has a 6.08 ERA, the offense is hitting .306 as a team, which presents some firepower.The biggest question for this offense is health, as no player played in every game this season for TAMUK. Of their mainstays, Nick Reyes and Landon Salinas provide the firepower for the offense. Salinas is hitting .321 with a team-leading 12 doubles while Reyes is hitting .343 with a team-leading 27 RBI. When the offense is clicking, anyone can step up for some big hits and spray the ball around the field. There are seven different players on the team with 20+ RBI.

Speaking of mainstays, Garrett Nail is, well, nails for this Javelina rotation. He has an impressive 85 strikeouts (20 higher than the next person in the LSC) in just 58.1 innings. Nail, with a record of 5-6, can be dangerous when he’s getting swing and miss. Another player to watch is Tyler Schumann, who is 5-2 with a 4.44 ERA over 52.2 innings (15 appearances, 5 starts). He’ll serve in a potential Game 3 starter/swingman role to get a win if need be.

#3 Seed St. Mary’s (34-16) vs #6 Seed West Texas A&M (28-22)

Schedule:

Game 1: Saturday, May 2nd - 3 PM CT

Game 2: Sunday, May 3rd - 1 PM CT

Game 3: Monday, May 4th - 1 PM CT (If Necessary)

St. Mary’s has had quite the season of overcoming expectations. Projected to finish sixth in the preseason polls, the Rattlers were just a series win away from claiming the Lone Star Regular Season crown. St. Mary’s has relied upon their pitching all season long, ranking 3rd in ERA (5.23) and 2nd in strikeouts (376) in the conference.On the mound, Gabe Cook has catapulted into the rotation at seasons’ end and suffered just his first loss last weekend. Cook is 6-1 with a 3.93 ERA and .210 batting average against over 52.2 innings. Eric Tenery is the innings leader with a 7-1 record over 63.2 innings with 61 strikeouts. The Rattlers have as good a chance as any with these two in the rotation with a combined record of 13-2 between the two pitchers.

Offensively, their standout bat is Ashton Beaird, who leads the team with a .349 batting average and is the lone player with an OPS above 1.000. His standout quality is getting on-base, as his .524 on-base percentage is 7th in the conference and leads the conference with 27 hit by pitches. He provides the offense value when he’s on base for others to drive him in.

West Texas A&M battled through a competitive Lone Star slate to finish with a 28-22 mark. The Buffs’ offensive engine was firing on all cylinders this spring, turning in a robust .319 team batting average that kept them in every series.

The charge is led by Jake Alwine, a pure hitter who posted a team-high .393 average and a punishing 1.176 OPS. Joining him in the middle of the order is the ironman Jacob Police, who started all 50 contests and paced the squad with 58 RBI and 69 hits. On the bump, the staff navigated a tough season to post a collective 6.62 ERA, finding ways to record key outs when the pressure was on.

Nick Yeager emerged as the staff anchor, holding a 4.39 ERA to lead all qualifying starters, while Cade Griffin proved to be a winner, racking up a team-best eight victories. When the game reached the late innings, Bryan Raitz slammed the door with four saves and utilized a swing-and-miss arsenal to match Griffin for the team lead in strikeouts with 51.

#4 Seed St. Edward's (31-18) vs #5 Seed Lubbock Christian (31-19)

Schedule:

Game 1: Saturday, May 2nd - 2 PM CT

Game 2: Sunday, May 3rd - 1 PM CT

Game 3: Monday, May 4th - 1 PM CT (If Necessary)

St. Edward’s marches into the postseason with a 31-18 record, securing a crucial home-field advantage for the opening round after a gritty series win over UT Dallas. The Hilltoppers boast a high-octane offense centered around Connor Cox, who decimated opposing pitching to the tune of a .407 average, 13 long balls, and 62 RBI. Complementing the power is the speed of Kade Nathman, a constant threat to swipe a bag with 18 stolen bases on the year.

The rotation has been a model of consistency, spearheaded by ace Connor Freeman, who dominated with an 8-1 record and a 2.99 ERA across nearly 70 innings of work. Right beside him, Finn Mignerey has been equally reliable, securing seven wins while maintaining a sharp 3.16 ERA.

Lubbock Christian matched their counterparts with an nearly identical 31-19 finish. No one in the conference slugged more than LCU’s .517 figure. Expect a lot of extra base hits from this offense.

The Chaps feature a dynamic duo at the plate: Hudson Grace, a hitting machine with a .368 average and 68 base knocks, and Jorge De Los Santos, who served as the primary run producer with a .363 average and 45 RBI. 

On the mound, Aaron Rubio has been a standout, sporting an 8-1 record and a 3.68 ERA, while workhorse Karson Dunn led the staff with 73.2 innings pitched.

#1 Seed UT Tyler (40-10)

UT Tyler put together a historic campaign, steamrolling the competition to a 40-10 finish and their first Lone Star Regular Season Title since joining the conference in 2019. The Patriots are a fundamentally sound juggernaut, leading the conference in both pitching (3.93 ERA) and defense (.975 fielding percentage). 

The lineup is anchored by Cole Ketzner, who hit at a blistering .404 clip with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs. Setting the table for him are Tanner Hornback and Connor Clark, who both eclipsed the 50-run mark. 

The pitching staff is a nightmare for hitters, led by the dynamic starter duo of Caden Copeland (5-1, 3.83 ERA) and Julio Garcia (8-2, 2.55 ERA). When they’re effective, the Patriots are hard to beat. Even if you are in a close game, shutdown reliever Coleson Abel, who posted a perfect 6-0 record and a microscopic 2.01 ERA, is there to provide even more havoc to opposing batters.