Five Lone Star Conference baseball teams picked up series wins last week, including No. 14 West Texas A&M, which picked up a crucial series victory on the road over No. 7 Angelo State to grab sole possession of first place. Oklahoma Christian and St. Mary's both picked up four-game sweeps, while No. 23 Lubbock Christian and UT Tyler also picked up 3-1 series records. With WT taking over first place at 28-8, ASU moved to second with a 26-10 record, followed by LCU at 25-11 in third.
LSC baseball teams are playing a single round-robin conference schedule with a four-game series against each league opponent (48 total LSC games).
LSC teams are 5-1 combined versus Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition in the NCAA Division II South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results are available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=baseball
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Will Fuenning, West Texas A&M, JR, Finance, Outfielder, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chaparral HS
Fuenning put on a show in San Angelo as the No. 14 Buffaloes picked up a Lone Star Conference series victory against No. 7 Angelo State at Foster Field to move to 30-8 overall. The Scottsdale, Ariz. product hit .538 on the weekend with one double and four home runs to drive in 12 RBI with 20 total bases. Fuenning slugged an incredible 1.538 on the weekend as five of his seven hits went for extra bases. He connected on two home runs, including a grand slam in game one of Saturday's doubleheader to drive in five RBI, followed by a seventh-inning grand slam in the nightcap to clinch the series win for the Buffs. He finished off the weekend with a solo shot in the finale as the Buffs claimed sole possession of first place in the LSC standings.
PITCHER
Nick Marshall, West Texas A&M, SO, Business, RHP, Antigo, Wisc., Antigo HS
Marshall was dominant on the mound for the 14th-ranked Buffaloes on Friday night as they picked up a series win on the road against the No. 7 Angelo State Rams to open the four-game series. The Antigo, Wisconsin, native set the tone for the weekend by not allowing a run while surrendering just four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts during his seven innings of work against one of the LSC's top offenses. The victory handed the Rams their first shutout loss since May of 2019.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-8 Matt Kissamis, Texas A&M International
F-15 Eduardo Acosta, Lubbock Christian
F-22 Austin Beck, Angelo State
M-1 Justin Lee, Angelo State
M-8 Ethan Bedgood, UT Tyler
M-15 Spencer Roach, Eastern New Mexico
M-21 Jake Mares, St. Mary's
M-28 Nick Wolff, Texas A&M-Kingsville
A-4 Carson Ogilvie, Lubbock Christian
A-11 Will Fuenning, West Texas A&M
Pitcher
F-8 Isaiah Alvarenga, Oklahoma Christian
F-15 Dylan Bells, St. Mary's
F-22 Logan Garza, Texas A&M-Kingsville
M-1 Jan Cabrera, Texas A&M International
M-8 Dylan Blomquist, UT Tyler
M-15 Josh Buske, St. Mary's
M-21 Aaron Munson, Angelo State
M-28 Isaiah Alvarenga, Oklahoma Christian (2)
A-4 Aaron Munson, Angelo State (2)
A-11 Nick Marshall, West Texas A&M
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
George Mendazona, Lubbock Christian, had one of a number of impressive hitting performances for the Chaps as they won a series against Eastern New Mexico. He hit .571 for the weekend, including three doubles and a homer for a slugging percentage of 1.000. The Oregon native added a pair of walks to reach base at a .588 clip. He drove in six runs and scored five times himself out of the No. 2 spot in the order. Mendazona has reached base in 14 straight games.
Jake Mares, St. Mary's, provided the offensive spark for the Rattlers, registering multiple hits in three of the four games in the series. He was on base 12 times with eight hits and four walks and stole five bases during those 12 trips. In the opening game of the series, Mares tied the StMU single-game record with three stolen bases, helping the team to a school record-tying nine swipes. In the series finale with the Aggies, Mares drove in the winning runs in the seventh with a double to the gap in right-center. He came around later to score in the inning and drove in an insurance run in the eighth with a single as StMU went on to win 5-1. Mares hit .533 with six RBI for the week and had 11 chances in the field with no errors.
Spencer Roach, Eastern New Mexico, continued his excellent season at the plate with a .533 batting average against No, 23 Lubbock Christian. Roach recorded three multi-hit games in the four-game series and posted eight RBIs over the weekend. Coming into the weekend, Chap pitching held opposing hitters to a .278 batting average, but Roach bucked the trend going 2-4 with five RBI in the Greyhound's 16-1 win over LCU and 4-6 at the dish with two RBI in a 13-12 defeat.
Tanner White, Oklahoma Christian, hit .533 (8-of-15) with two home runs, a double, six RBIs, nine runs scored, a .600 on-base percentage (including three walks and two HBPs) and a 1.000 slugging percentage as Oklahoma Christian swept a four-game series from UT Permian Basin. On Senior Day on Saturday, the senior outfielder hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 6-5 win in the opener, then connected on a grand slam during a seven-run fifth inning of a 17-11 win in the second game.
Kyle McShaffry, UT Tyler, had a phenomenal weekend at the plate while helping lead the Patriots to a 3-1 series win over UAFS. McShaffry batted .526 over four games while accumulating 10 hits, a double, and a home run. In three of the four contests, he had a multi-hit game, including a highlight 4-for-5 performance in game one of the doubleheaders on Saturday with three RBI and two runs scored. The senior from Cypress, Texas, also collected his fourth home run of the season, which ties him for the team lead in the category. He also is leading the team in hits, RBI and total bases.
Isaac Gonzalez, Texas A&M International, was the spark plug for TAMIU in their weekend split with St. Edward's. Starting his first complete series of the season, Gonzalez put together an 8-for-18 (.444) weekend from the leadoff spot in the order, alongside a .944 slugging percentage. In Saturday's game two of the doubleheader, he pulled the Dustdevils within two in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run before walking it off with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. On Sunday, he finished 4-for-5 with his third home run of the weekend and three more RBI to put his weekend total at six.
Steven Medrano, St. Mary's, started his first nine-inning game of the season and pitched 7.1 innings in the team's 9-7 series-opening victory over Cameron. He kept the Aggies hitters off balance all night, allowing them to hit only .172 against him, and he surrendered just one earned run, striking out seven - just one off his career-high of eight. In his last two outings (14.1 IP), Medrano has given up only the one earned run and fanned 15 batters.
Ruger Bravo, Eastern New Mexico, shut down the hot-hitting No. 23 Lubbock Christian lineup in the Greyhound's 16-1 win over the Chaps. Bravo posted a complete game going seven innings, allowing one run from six hits, with seven strikeouts and just one walk. Bravo has picked up wins in three consecutive outings, all complete games. In addition, Bravo held the Chaps to just a .231 batting average and didn't surrender a hit with a runner on base.
Garrett Arredondo, UT Tyler, made one appearance on the weekend in relief and delivered a strong performance as he held UAFS in check. Arredondo came on in the third inning and threw six flawless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk and striking out five hitters. UAFS managed to hit just .056 against him in the contest.
Ethan Coombes, Lubbock Christian, was dominant in a 20-2 Chaparral win against his former team Eastern New Mexico. The right-hander tossed his third complete game of the season, allowing just two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out eight. He allowed just one leadoff batter to reach in the game and did not allow a two-out hit in the outing. The Greyhounds hit .143 against him.
Jayce Meyer, Oklahoma Christian, recorded his first two collegiate wins two days apart, both in relief as Oklahoma Christian swept a four-game series from Texas-Permian Basin. He allowed only three hits in three innings of work in a 15-6 win on Friday, then gave up only one run in his inning of work on Sunday as the Eagles won 18-8.