LSC BASEBALL
Baseball season began last week with six of the eight Lone Star Conference teams in action. Abilene Christian, Incarnate Word, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Tarleton State opened the year at the Astros In Action D-II Invitational at Minute Maid Park. The four teams combined to go 9-5 at the eight-team event including a flawless 4-0 on the first day.
The games continue with a full schedule of non-conference games this week.
The overall LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games, while the winner of the postseason championship will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league’s automatic qualification into the NCAA postseason. The championship will be played May 3-6 in Canyon, Texas, as part of the LSC Spring Championships Festival.
LSC baseball teams are 13-7 overall this season. In the NCAA South Central Region, the men’s teams are currently 0-0 combined versus Heartland Conference teams and 0-0 opposed to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
DIAMOND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTERS
Taylor Taska, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, JR, 1B/P, Kingwood, Texas, Kingwood HS
Taska led the Javelinas to a 3-1 record with a team-best .474 average at the Astros In Action Division II Invitational. He also paced the team with four doubles, 4 RBI, 6 runs scored and had one of two home runs on the weekend. Taska warmed up in the final two games of the weekend including a 4-for-6 performance with three doubles, a home run, three RBI and four runs scored against Arkansas-Monticello in a 16-9 win. He was 3-for-5 in the finale against Abilene Christian with a run scored and a steal. The junior also pitched 3-1/3 innings against ACU to get the win allowing one earned, four hits and fanning two.
Andrew LaCombe, Angelo State University, SR, Catcher, Southlake, Texas, Southlake Carroll HS
LaCombe started the 2013 season off in style by delivering 11 RBI in the Rams’ four-game sweep at Ouachita Baptist last weekend. The senior catcher tied the program’s single-game high with a seven-RBI performance in the third game of the series and also had four doubles throughout the series. LaCombe, who was a first-team LSC selection as a junior, had a .385 batting average for the weekend and stole two bases for good measure.
PITCHERS
Alexis Garza, University of the Incarnate Word, JR, SP, McAllen, Texas, McAllen HS
Garza shut down Arkansas Tech at the Astros in Action D-II Invitational. He tossed 6.0 shutout innings, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out eight batters. The junior struck out the side in the first inning and struck out the final two batters he faced in the sixth inning to earn the win in an 8-0 victory.
Dallas Ponder, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, JR, RHP, Flatonia, Texas, Flatonia HS
Ponder earned the start for the Javelinas in the season opener against No. 4 Central Missouri. He tossed six innings of two-hit baseball allowing one run on a solo home run. The junior struck out seven batters and walked two as the Mules hit just .100.