Angelo State is still unbeaten through three weeks of the season as the No. 11 Rams, along with Texas A&M-Kingsville and UT Tyler, swept their four-game series over the weekend. Oklahoma Christian and No. 15 West Texas A&M picked up series wins on the road.
LSC teams are playing a 13-week conference schedule with a four-game series against 11 of their 13 opponents and a three-game series against the other two. Weeks one and two will be three-game series and weeks three through 13 will be four-game series. Each four-game series shall consist of a 9-inning game Friday, a 7x7 doubleheader Saturday and 9-inning contest Sunday.
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 the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league’s automatic qualification into NCAA postseason.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=baseball&
2020 LSC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
This season, the top eight teams based on winning percentage in regular-season conference games will play a two-week conference tournament. The first week will consist of four best-of-three series hosted by the top four seeds on Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 with game one Friday, and game two and, if necessary, game three on Saturday. The four winning teams will advance to a double-elimination tournament the next week May 7-8-9 in Cleburne, Texas at The Depot at Cleburne Station. Teams will not be re-seeded prior to the second week of the championship.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Parker Bramlett, Angelo State, JR, Management Information Systems, INF, Tyler, Texas, Robert E. Lee HS
Bramlett dominated for the Rams offensively in the 4-0 series sweep over Cameron this past weekend. Bramlett went 11-of-18 from the plate and notched a .611 batting average. In the first game of the series, the Tyler, Texas native recorded two extra-base hits with doubles in the second and the fourth inning to score three runners. In the series finale, Bramlett hit a one-out triple to right field to score two runs and increase the Rams score to 9-3 over the Aggies. Later in the game, he hit a two-out double to right field to help secure the win for ASU. Bramlett led the team with 10 RBI, with a career-high of six coming in game one of the series, six extra-base hits and scored eight runs. With the series victory, Bramlett has helped the Rams to the program’s best start at 10-0.
PITCHER
Reagan MacDonald, UT Tyler, SR, Mechanical Engineering, LHP, McKinney, Texas, Gunter HS
MacDonald was phenomenal last week as the senior lefthander faced just one batter over the minimum, striking out 10 in a seven-inning complete-game effort to produce UT Tyler's first no-hitter since Feb. 24, 2019. MacDonald retired all but one of the final 17 batters he faced, racking up six more strikeouts to finish with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks in an efficient 84-pitch outing. With the no-hitter on the line in the seventh inning, MacDonald closed the game with a three-pitch strikeout.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-4 Bradley Mathiowetz, Angelo State
F-11 Blake Burns, Tarleton
F-18 Parker Bramlett, Angelo State
Pitcher
F-4 Aaron Weseman, Lubbock Christian
F-11 Benjamin Elder, Angelo State
F-18 Reagan MacDonald, UT Tyler
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Blake Burns, Tarleton, continued his torrid campaign at the plate for the second straight weekend. The senior from Keller hit .500 for the second consecutive series after going 8-for-16 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI. Burns also scored a team-high five runs while leading the Texans back in the series to a split with UAFS. He had a hit in all four games of the series, including multiple hits in three of the four. His best game came in game two when he went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. In the series finale, Burns put the game away by capping off Tarleton’s six-run seventh inning with an inside-the-park home run off the centerfield wall.
Jordan Gochenour, UT Tyler, was 2-for-3 performance in last week's series finale in a four-game sweep over Eastern New Mexico extended his hitting streak to 9 games and was his team-leading sixth multi-hit game of the season. For the week, Gochenour hit .500 with a 1.167 slugging percentage and five RBI. The junior launched a pair of home runs and had two more extra-base hits in the series sweep.
Cole Lee, Oklahoma Christian, hit .417 in the leadoff spot as OC posted a series win at Texas A&M International. He was a pest on the base paths, stealing three bases in as many attempts, and drove in a run in each of the Eagles’ three wins in the series.
Giancarlo Servin, Texas A&M-Kingsville, led the Javelinas on the weekend with a .385 average in a four-game sweep of Lubbock Christian. The junior from Edinburg, Texas, put away five hits in the extra-inning win in game one, which includes a single in the first to score the game's first run, and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th for the first of two walk-off victories in the series. On the year, Servin is hitting .333 with 10 hits in 30 at-bats along with a team-high 14 RBI.
George Mendazona, Lubbock Christian, led the Chaps with eight total bases through four games at Texas A&M-Kingsville. He had five hits on the weekend, including a double and a triple while reaching base at a .471 clip.
Ty Markee, St. Edward’s, drove in seven runs in a four-game series at UT Permian Basin last week. The senior infielder hit .400 with two doubles. Five of his seven RBIs came in the 10-4 victory in the series finale.
Amado Almanzar, Texas A&M-Kingsville, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning during the second half of Saturday's doubleheader against Lubbock Christian en route to his first win in the Blue and Gold. He struck out three over the course of the first five innings before striking out the side in the sixth to push his total to six on the day, and no-hit the Chaps until the top of the seventh. For the year, Almanzar lowered his ERA to 2.45 through 14.2 innings pitched and leads the team with 21 strikeouts.
Trever Berg, UT Permian Basin, was sensational Saturday for the Falcons, tossing a four-hit shutout against St. Edward's. Berg was in control all afternoon and allowed just one hit through the first five innings. Berg struck out a season-high seven batters en route to the complete game shutout. The junior had to be on top of his game as the Falcons were held on just one run on two hits but it was enough for Berg's second win of the year. In two home starts, the junior has a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings with 12 strikeouts against just seven hits.
Trent Baker, Angelo State, was an ace on the mound in game one of the series against Cameron. Through five innings of work, Baker had a no-hitter and held the opponents to a .000 batting average against him. He struck out seven batters and faced 16. He also went three up, three down four times while on the mound. Baker helped continue the Rams undefeated streak and to a program best start of 10-0.
Gabe Rodery, Oklahoma Christian, continued his hot start with a gem at Texas A&M International in an 8-0 win for OC. The senior left-hander struck out 12 batters against only one walk in eight innings (the longest stint this season by an LSC pitcher) and didn’t allow a TAMIU runner past second base while scattering six hits. Rodery has allowed only one earned run in 22 innings of work this season and leads the conference with a 0.41 ERA. He also leads the LSC in innings pitched and is third in strikeouts with 28.
Ty Stephenson, Lubbock Christian, had his best outing of the young season, throwing more than 120 pitches in a no-decision against Texas A&M-Kingsville. He worked with a lot of baserunners during the outing, walking 11 Javelinas, but he also struck out eight and gave up just four hits.
Mathieu Gauthier, West Texas A&M, continued to roll on the mound for the No. 15 Buffs this past weekend as the North Carolina State transfer began the series with a stellar performance in a 6-3 victory for WT. The Montreal, Quebec product allowed just one earned run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in his seven innings of work on Friday night in San Antonio, allowing an opposing batting average of just .167 in the victory to claim his first win in Maroon & White.
Garrett Leggitt, Tarleton, had the best outing of his young career in a much-needed relief role to lift the Texans past UAFS in Sunday’s series finale. Leggitt earned the win with five innings of relief, over which he kept the Lions limited to one run on four hits and struck out four. Leggitt also made some big pitches through the course of his outing. The freshman southpaw served up three double plays and tight roped out of a dangerous situation in the seventh. In a scoreless game in the seventh inning, UAFS got on the board with a leadoff walk and a triple to get on the board, but Leggitt dug down and got two weak groundballs to a drawn-in infield and an inning-ending grounder to first base to keep the deficit at just a run. His offense came to his defense in the ensuing half inning with six runs to give the freshman his second win of the season.
Jack Granack, St. Edward’s, struck out nine in his first collegiate start last Friday at UT Permian Basin. The freshman right-hander gave up two singles and walked two in five-plus innings while holding the Falcons to just .125 hitting at the plate.