St. Edward’s earned a series sweep to open their 2021 conference season while No. 1 Angelo State, Lubbock Christian, St. Mary’s and Texas A&M International picked up conference series wins. No. 22 West Texas A&M picked up a 3-1 series win over Oklahoma Baptist in non-conference play.
           
            The 2021 baseball schedule will feature a single round-robin format with each team playing a three-game series against each league opponent. The LSC baseball schedule and results available here: https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=baseball.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Nick Seginowich, Angelo State, SR, Finance, INF, Victoria, B.C., Lambrick Park
Nick Seginowich powered top-ranked Angelo State to a series win over No. 10 UT Tyler to open the 2021 season as the infielder hit .556 with two home runs and six runs batted in on the road. In the series opener, Seginowich went 3-for-4 at the plate driving in three runs and scoring a pair of his own in a 10-1 victory. In the series finale, the Canada native made the most of his three plate appearances driving in a two-run home run before picking up a walk and a hit-by-pitch. The senior reached base at a .714 clip and slugged an impressive 1.333 for the series on five total hits including three for extra bases.

PITCHER
Ty Stephenson, Lubbock Christian, JR, Exercise Science, RHP, Ingram, Texas, Kerrville Tivy
Ty Stephenson was dominant in his first outing of the season, earning a complete-game shutout win as the Chaps run-ruled UAFS 12-0 in game two of the three-game series. The Ingram, Texas native allowed just five Lion baserunners in the game, none of whom were able to reach third base. Stephenson scattered two hits and a walk in the start and struck out seven batters, just one off of his career high, as UAFS hit .087 against him.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-9      Nick Seginowich, Angelo State
 
Pitcher
F-9      Ty Stephenson, Lubbock Christian
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
       Cullen Ainsworth, St. Edward’s, was outstanding in his opening weekend of collegiate action as the freshman hit .800 over a three-game series sweep against Eastern New Mexico with two run-rule wins and a 6-3 win on Saturday. Ainsworth picked up four hits and two walks in his five at-bats and drove in a run.
 
       Luis Navarro, Lubbock Christian, caught fire against UAFS, collecting a team-leading seven hits, 11 total bases and five RBI in a series win to move the Chaps to 3-3 on the season. Two of Navarro's seven hits went for extra bases, as he clubbed a double and a home run, giving him a slugging percentage of 1.000 for the weekend. The junior is hitting .412 through his first five games and has reached base at a .524 clip.
 
       Jerry Villareal, Texas A&M International, was the driving force in the Dustdevils 2-1 series win over UT Permian Basin. In total, Villareal was responsible for eight of TAMIU's 23 RBI in the series and was 7-for-13 from the plate with two doubles and a home run. For the series, the sophomore hit .538 and slugged .923 to open his 2021 season.
 
      Jordan Gochenour, UT Tyler, went 4-for-8 from the plate in last weekend's series against top-ranked Angelo State. The Houston, Texas native totaled five bases and drew a pair of walks throughout the series. He currently leads the team with a .500 batting average for the season.
 
       Blake Empkey, Oklahoma Christian, hit .487 with a pair of doubles and a .500 on-base percentage in Oklahoma Christian’s season-opening series against St. Mary’s. He keyed OC’s 16-14 win in the season opener, going 4-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two runs. In the final game, a 6-5, 12-inning loss, he hit a two-out double in the seventh inning to drive home Kevin Collyar with the game-tying run and later scored to give the Eagles the lead.
 
       Trent Baker, Angelo State, led the Rams to a win in the opening game of the season over No. 10 UT Tyler. The junior allowed only one run over 6.2 innings while collecting a career-high 12 strikeouts against the Patriots. Baker scattered five hits in the outing and allowed just two extra-base hits.
 
       Zach Dixon, West Texas A&M, started off the season on a high note for the Buffs this past weekend as No. 22 West Texas A&M picked up a series win over Oklahoma Baptist, who is receiving votes in the Top 25 poll, during the Bob Sloan Baseball Classic at Wilder Park in Canyon. The Las Vegas, Nevada native earned the opening day start for the Buffs as the senior lefty went five shutout innings with just three hits allowed, walking three with four strikeouts for an opposing batting average of .167. Dixon held the powerful OBU offense scoreless during his five innings followed by Carter Brown in the next four frames to hand the Bison their first shutout since March 7, 2020.
 
       Jacob Blatney, UT Tyler, went 5.2 innings against No. 1 Angelo State on Saturday night, striking out nine batters along the way. Although he wasn't credited with the decision, Blatney was vital in the Patriot's 2-1 upset of the Rams. The Spring, Texas native worked his way around three runners in scoring position in his first five innings of work and allowed just a single run to a high-powered Ram's offense.
 
       Zach Pena, Texas A&M International, shut down the UT Permian Basin offense, coming in relief in the Saturday game. He held the Falcons to just one hit with four strikeouts and one run late in the ninth inning for his first win of the season.
 
       Blake Holub, St. Edward's, recorded the first win of the season for SEU in a run-rule win over Eastern New Mexico. He posted 13 strikeouts in five innings of work while allowing just one earned run in a 15-4 win over the Greyhounds.