Three Lone Star Conference baseball teams picked up undefeated weeks as No. 25 UT Tyler, Lubbock Christian, St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s earned three-game conference-series sweeps. Fifth-ranked West Texas A&M earned a big series win over No. 11 Angelo State to improve to 23-3 in league play this season. Oklahoma Christian also earned a series win over the weekend.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=baseball
LSC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Baseball Championship will be a two-week tournament featuring eight teams with the opening round on campus. The winners of each opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament played the following weekend. 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.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Luis Navarro, Lubbock Christian, JR, Spanish Education, C, David Chiriqui, Panama, Colegio Félix Olivares Contreras
Luis Navarro had an incredible weekend at the plate, batting .733 with 17 total bases and eight RBI in a three-game sweep of Eastern New Mexico. In Saturday's doubleheader, he matched LCU's program record for hits in a single game twice, recording five hits in each contest. His one home run on the weekend was a grand slam, and he posted a team-leading slugging percentage of 1.133 across the three games. Navarro has now hit safely in 18 straight games, which is the longest hit streak by a Chaparral player since Tony Reyes also hit in 18 straight in 2017.
PITCHER
Mathieu Gauthier, West Texas A&M, SR, Finance, RHP, Montreal, Quebec, Lower Canada College
Mathieu Gauthier was dominant on Friday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Lone Star Conference as the No. 5 Buffs took the opener, and ultimately the series, from the No. 10 Angelo State Rams at Wilder Park in Canyon. The Montreal, Quebec product allowed just one unearned run on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts against the high-powered Rams offense that finished the night hitting just .154 against the senior right-hander who moved to 8-2 on the season. Gauthier tossed 118 pitches during his eight innings of work in the opener, forcing one flyout and 13 groundouts to go along with his seven K's in the win.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-9 Nick Seginowich, Angelo State
F-16 Ryan Johnson, West Texas A&M
F-23 Keone Givens, West Texas A&M
M-2 Jordan Gochenour, UT Tyler
M-9 Aldo Buendia, Texas A&M-Kingsville
M-16 Chance Westervelt, Oklahoma Christian
M-23 Josh Elvir, Angelo State
M-30 Cade Engle, West Texas A&M
A-6 Josh Elvir, Angelo State (2)
A-13 Luis Navarro, Lubbock Christian
Pitcher
F-9 Ty Stephenson, Lubbock Christian
F-16 Mathieu Gauthier, West Texas A&M
F-23 Connor Schmidt, St. Mary's
M-2 Benjamin Elder, Angelo State
M-9 Zach De la Garza, St. Mary’s
M-16 Cole Lee, Oklahoma Christian
M-23 Trent Baker, Angelo State
M-30 Kolby Lunsford, Texas A&M-Kingsville
A-6 Logan Garza, Texas A&M-Kingsville
A-13 Mathieu Gauthier, West Texas A&M (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Jay DeSoto, UT Permian Basin, became the first Falcon since 2016 to hit for the cycle on Sunday, with a 5-for-6 afternoon. The junior now boasts a 15-game hitting streak after recording at least two hits in each game this weekend. The junior drove in five of the 31 runs scored over the weekend by the Falcons. On Sunday DeSoto became the first player in the Lone Star Conference to hit for the cycle this season. He got the offense going in the bottom of the first with a triple before coming in to score. DeSoto then singled in the second before driving in a run on a double in the fourth.
That set up a chance at history in his next at-bat when he ripped a home run to left field to complete the cycle in the sixth inning and sparked a three-run rally. He was also perfect from the field, not committing an error in 11 chances.
Grant Lake, Oklahoma Christian, hit .538 and led an OC offense that exploded for 60 runs in four games against Central Oklahoma and on the road against Texas-Permian Basin. His bases-loaded triple in the fifth inning put the Eagles ahead for good in a 15-7 win over UCO. He hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning of a 23-13 win over Texas-Permian Basin on Friday and had three RBIs, including a two-run double during an eight-run ninth inning that lifted OC to a 17-11 win on Sunday. He scored eight times, had an on-base percentage of .700 (thanks to six walks) and a slugging percentage of 1.000 for the week in addition to recording a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 20 chances from his position at second base.
Ethan Bedgood, UT Tyler, went 3-for-4 in Sunday's series finale against UAFS, hitting a pair of doubles and a grand slam to match the highest individual RBI total in the Division II era for UT Tyler. He finished the weekend 4-for-8 after going 1-for-4 in game one on Saturday and finished with a slugging percentage of 1.125 for the afternoon. UT Tyler hit .423 as a club against UAFS in Saturday's doubleheader win to complete the series sweep over the Lions, recording 30 hits on the day. Bedgood capped off the second game of the afternoon in which the Patriots run-ruled UAFS thanks to 15 runs in the final two innings of the game. His grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning enacted the run rule, running the score to 18-6, putting an emphasis on a huge offensive weekend for the Patriots.
Blake Holub, St. Edward’s, led a stout Hilltopper offense as SEU went 4-0 this week, scoring 38 runs and allowing just nine. Holub had six extra-base hits in his nine hits including a perfect 5-5 outing Sunday against Texas A&M International, logging four double and a home run in that game.
Johnny Hernandez, St. Mary’s, paced the Rattlers with a .545 batting average in the sweep over Cameron. Two of his six base hits were for extra bases, including just the second triple of his career. Hernandez was also hit once by a pitch, moving into sixth in StMU history with 27 HBP for his career. His .643 on-base percentage and .818 slugging percentage both led the team for the week.
Cade Engle, West Texas A&M, continued to pace the WT offense from the leadoff spot this past weekend as the Buffs remain atop of the Lone Star Conference standings with a series win over the No. 10 Angelo State Rams in Canyon. The Pampa, Texas product hit .583 on the weekend with seven hits and five runs scored during his 12 at-bats to go along with a pair of walks for an on-base percentage of .667. Engle drove in one RBI for a slugging clip of .583 to go along with a pair of stolen bases and a perfect fielding percentage in center with four putouts.
Armando Valle, Lubbock Christian, had the best outing of his career, tossing a complete-game shutout in an 8-0 Lubbock Christian win over Eastern New Mexico in the series opener. His nine innings of work was a new career-high, as was his 14 strikeouts, which were the most by an LCU pitcher since Feb. 24, 2012. He threw 131 total pitches in the outing, 85 of which were strikes, and held the Greyhounds to a .188 batting average on the night.
Josh Buske, St. Mary’s, entered a 2-2 tied game in the third inning and shut down the Cameron offense, allowing only two hits over the next 4 1/3 innings. It was the longest outing of Buske's StMU career and his six strikeouts were twice his season-high total. Behind him, the Rattlers rallied to a 7-3 victory to earn their second series sweep of the season.
Matthew McMillan, UT Tyler, struck out the side to record his sixth save of the 2021 campaign in the 6-5 game win for UT Tyler over UAFS. McMillan leads the Lone Star Conference with six saves on the season and has now struck out six out of the last eight batters he has faced in relief appearances and has totaled 23 strikeouts in 18.2 innings thrown in 2021.
Kaden Kirby, Oklahoma Christian, shined in two relief appearances for OC in wins over Central Oklahoma and at Texas-Permian Basin. Against UCO, he pitched a perfect sixth inning, preserving a three-run lead in a game OC eventually won 15-7. He threw the final 1 2/3 innings in a 7-5 loss, allowing no runs and one walk and giving the Eagles a chance to rally.
Jack Granack, St. Edward’s, was just one inning shy of a complete-game win, scattering four hits and not giving up an earned run in a win over Texas A&M International. He also had two strikeouts in the win.
Tyler Stone, UT Permian Basin, was brilliant in relief in the Falcons 7-5 win on Saturday over Oklahoma Christian. The junior silenced the Eagles, striking out five in 4.2 innings of work. He only needed 80 pitches in his longest outing of the season. It was just the third time in seven appearances that Stone allowed an earned run all season. In 18 innings he has struck out an eye-popping 29 batters, allowed just nine hits, and pitched to a 2.00 ERA.