No. 12 Angelo State picked up a conference series sweep while Eastern New Mexico, Lubbock Christian, Oklahoma Christian and St. Mary’s all earned series wins as the regular season enters its final two weeks. No. 4 West Texas A&M still remains atop the league standings at 26-3.

            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. Due to UT Tyler's NCAA Division II provisional membership status, they are not eligible to compete in the 2021 LSC baseball tournament.
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Jake Mares, St. Mary's, JR, Computer Engineering, SS, Fort Worth, Texas, All Saints Episcopal
Jake Mares extended his hitting streak to 11 games during a 2-1 weekend against UT Tyler. Mares scored the winning run in the 12-11 marathon series finale against the Patriots. The junior singled to right to put runners on the corners, stole second base and hurried home on an error. Mares hit .538 for the week and also registered two three-hit games, scored seven runs and swiped two bags - giving him 17 stolen bases on the year. Mares has been successful in his last 12 attempts on the base paths. He raised his batting average 15 points over the series and is now hitting a team-high .387 for the year.

PITCHER
Trent Baker, Angelo State, JR, Management Information Systems, RHP, Georgetown, Texas, Georgetown HS
Trent Baker led Angelo State to a series-opening win on the mound going 8.0 innings to pick up his conference co-leading ninth win of the season. Baker earned a combined shutout and allowed just two hits over his eight scoreless frames while holding the Aggies’ lineup to a .077 batting average. The junior also struck out a season-high 13 batters moving him to a tie for second in the conference with 77 punchouts on the season.
 
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
A-20    Johnny Hernandez, St. Mary's
A-27    Jake Mares, St. Mary's
 
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)
A-20    Armando Valle, Lubbock Christian
A-27    Trent Baker, Angelo State (2)
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
      Michael DiFiore, Oklahoma Christian, had six base hits – three doubles and three home runs, good for a 1.500 slugging percentage – drove in nine runs and provided the decisive blow in the final game to give OC a series win at Arkansas-Fort Smith. DiFiore, who leads the LSC in home runs, had one in the series opener – a two-run first-inning shot – as well as a two-run ninth-inning double to start a rally that fell just short. In the second game, a 9-8 OC win, he drove in three more runs with a two-run homer in the third and a solo homer in the seventh, as well as adding a double. With OC trailing 5-4 with two outs in the ninth inning in the finale, he delivered a two-run double to right-center field to put the Eagles ahead for good. He also had a .600 on-base percentage during the series.
 
      Aaron Walters, Angelo State, finished the weekend with the highest batting average on the squad at .692, collecting nine hits in 13 appearances without strikeout out once. Walters ranks third in the Lone Star Conference in batting average, hitting .398 on the season.
     
     Lukas Polanco, UT Tyler, hit .471 for the week for UT Tyler, driving in nine runs in his four games played. He went 8-for-17 from the plate throughout those four contests against Southern Arkansas and St. Mary's and finished the week with five extra-base hits. He slugged .882 for the week with those four doubles and a home run and had a hand in 15 of the 45 runs scored by UT Tyler throughout the four games. The Fort Worth native recorded multi-hit games in three out of the four games throughout the week and had an RBI in all four contests.
 
     Larry Leitha, Lubbock Christian, had a good week at the plate as Lubbock Christian earned a road upset of No. 5 Angelo State in the midweek and beat UT Permian Basin two games to one on the weekend. He hit .471, leading the team in total bases (16) and RBI (6). He collected eight hits and three walks during the week, scoring eight times. Leitha was also 2-2 on the basepaths.
 
     Shandon Herrera, Lubbock Christian, made a pair of starts on the week and was named the winning pitcher in both, improving his overall record to 5-2 on the year. He worked three innings on the mound in a Tuesday win over No. 5 Angelo State, allowing no runs on three hits and a walk against the Rams. Then on Sunday, he went to the mound in his hometown of Odessa with the Chaps trying to win the series. He allowed six hits in six innings of work against the Falcons while striking out six. For the week, Herrera had an ERA of 2.00 with seven strikeouts.
 
     Zach De La Garza, St. Mary’s, struck out a career-high 12 batters in a 12-6 victory over UT-Tyler. He gave up two earned runs and allowed only four hits over seven innings. He held the Patriots to a .167 batting average and struck out at five straight -- including the side in the fourth inning. The senior fanned at least two hitters in each of the first four innings and seven of the nine hitters struck out at least once. He also moved up one spot on the St. Mary's career charts in strikeouts and now ranks fifth with 304.
 
     Robbie Suhr, Oklahoma Christian, a former starter who was making only his fourth appearance all season due to injuries, pitching three innings of two-hit relief that shut down UAFS long enough for OC to rally for a 6-5 win in the series finale, giving the Eagles the series win. With OC trailing 5-4 entering the eighth inning, he blanked the Lions in that inning, then retired them in order in the bottom of the ninth after Michael DiFiore’s double had put the Eagles ahead.
 
     Nick Niebur, UT Tyler, went 6.0 innings and struck out five in his lone start of the week for the Patriots against St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon. He scattered seven hits in those six innings of work and surrendered a pair of earned runs to earn the no-decision. The freshman has now posted three straight quality starts after working into the starting rotation earlier this spring.