Angelo State is the top pick to claim the conference title in the 2020 Lone Star Conference baseball preseason poll announced on Wednesday.
The league’s preseason poll reflects the opinions of LSC head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives throughout the region.
ASU earned the top spot in the poll with 479 total points including 27 of 35 first-place votes. The Rams went 46-12 last season making a run to the NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional.
West Texas A&M was picked to finish second with 454 total points and seven of 35 first-place votes. The Buffs finished in the same position last season before claiming the LSC tournament title and advancing to the South Central Regional for the sixth consecutive season.
Lubbock Christian finished third in the poll with 396 total points. The Chaparrals finished the 2019 season 35-17 claiming the Heartland Conference title and advanced to the South Central Region for the third time in four years.
Texas A&M-Kingsville was picked to finish fourth this season earning 371 points and one first-place nod. The Javelinas were followed by St. Edward’s in fifth with 327 points, UAFS in sixth with 318 points, St. Mary’s in seventh with 286 points, Oklahoma Christian in eighth with 216 points, Cameron in ninth with 199 points and Tarleton in 10th with 171 points to round out the top 10.
UT Permian Basin, UT Tyler, Texas A&M International and Eastern New Mexico finished out the preseason poll.
Angelo State’s Josh Elvir was tabbed as the LSC Preseason Player of the Year, while West Texas A&M’s Zach Dixon was named the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Elvir, a senior outfielder from Kemah, Texas, started 55 games for Angelo State leading the Rams and the conference in several statistical categories including batting average (.458), slugging percentage (.989), on-base percentage (.584), runs scored (75), hits (82), RBI (81), home runs (20) and triples (9). The reigning LSC Player of the Year led all of Division II in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and RBI on his way to all-American honors.
Dixon, a senior starting pitcher from Las Vegas, made 13 appearances with 11 starts and a 6-1 record for the Buffs in 2019. Dixon registered a 2.63 earned run average over 61.2 innings with three combined shutouts. He allowed just 49 hits and 24 walks and struck out 78 batters while allowing opponents to hit just .214 against him. Dixon led the conference in hits allowed and runs allowed (24) and finished in the top five in earned run average, opposing batting average and strikeouts. He earned D2CCA All-Region honors and was also named to the LSC All-Academic team.
The 2020 season begins on January 31 with 14 LSC teams playing a single round-robin schedule with a weekend series against each league opponent. The LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games.
The LSC Championship will be a two-week tournament featuring eight teams with the opening round on campus on May 1-2. The winners of each opening round series will advance to The Depot in Cleburne, Texas for a double-elimination tournament that will be played May 7-9. The winner of the postseason tournament will be recognized as the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.
| Rank |
Team |
1st |
Total |
| 1 |
Angelo State |
27 |
479 |
| 2 |
West Texas A&M |
7 |
454 |
| 3 |
Lubbock Christian |
|
396 |
| 4 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
1 |
371 |
| 5 |
St. Edward's |
|
327 |
| 6 |
UAFS |
|
318 |
| 7 |
St. Mary's |
|
286 |
| 8 |
Oklahoma Christian |
|
216 |
| 9 |
Cameron |
|
199 |
| 10 |
Tarleton |
|
171 |
| 11 |
UT Permian Basin |
|
160 |
| 12 |
UT Tyler |
|
154 |
| 13 |
Texas A&M International |
|
80 |
| 14 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
64 |