Angelo State is the favorite to win its eighth Lone Star Conference baseball title according to the 2025 preseason poll, it was announced on Thursday (Jan. 23). ASU’s Jacob Guerrero and UT Tyler’s Rawley Hector claimed preseason player of the year honors.
The preseason poll and preseason players of the year are voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
ASU totaled 483 points and collected 29 of the possible 39 first-place votes in the poll. Head coach Kevin Brooks’ Rams were 44-21 overall and 32-16 in league play last season en route to finishing as the NCAA Division II national runner-ups. ASU, which won the first baseball national championship for the school and conference in 2023, became the first team since 2007 to appear in back-to-back national title games. The Rams have won four consecutive South Central Super Regional crowns.
ASU led the league in pitching last season with a 5.00 ERA, 531 strikeouts over 525 1/3 innings and a .268 batting average against. It also had the LSC’s top defense (.973 fielding percentage), stole the most bases (170) and drew the most walks (320).
Defending LSC champion Lubbock Christian was picked as the runner-up with 457 points and five first-place votes. The Chapparals went 45-16 overall and 35-13 in conference play. They won the conference tournament and reached the super regional. LCU led the league in hitting last season with a .348 average, 96 home runs and 41 triples. It also plated a league-high 584 runs.
West Texas A&M was the third-place selection with 411 points and two first-place votes. The Buffaloes went 37-19 overall and 34-14 to finish as the conference runner-up and reached the NCAA tournament. WT has won three LSC titles (2021, 2018 and 2015).
UT Tyler was selected in the fourth spot with 386 points and one first-place vote. The Patriots went 29-23 overall and 28-20 in conference play.
St. Edward’s (311 points) was predicted to finish fifth, followed by six-time LSC champion Texas A&M-Kingsville (268) and NCAA tournament team UT Permian Basin (266) to round out what would be the seven teams to qualify for the LSC Championship.
Texas A&M International (234 points) was the eighth-place selection and picked up the final two first-place votes. St. Mary’s was selected ninth with 205 points, followed by Eastern New Mexico (200 points), Cameron (143), Oklahoma Christian (119) and new league member Sul Ross State (66).
Guerrero was named LSC Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The outfielder and graduate student from Colleyville, Texas batted .368 with 11 home runs, four triples, 25 doubles and 76 RBIs. He was the conference’s stolen bases leader (30) and scored 79 runs. Guerrero was also a member of the LSC All-Academic Team.
Hector was named LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The senior right-hander from Van Alstyne, Texas went 7-3 with a league-best 2.95 ERA. Hector, who is the reigning LSC Pitcher of the Year, recorded a pair of complete-game shutouts and struck out 56 batters over 73 1/3 innings. Opponents hit just .241 off him.
Both Guerrero (2023) and Hector (2024) have earned All-American honors in their careers.
Additionally, 26 players – 13 position players and 13 pitchers including Guerrero and Hector – were selected for the LSC Baseball Preseason Players to Watch list. The student-athletes were nominated by their member institution.
The LSC baseball season begins as early as Jan. 31. Throughout the year, all 13 LSC teams will play a single round-robin schedule with a four-game weekend series against each league opponent. To see the league schedule, click
here.
The LSC Baseball Championship will feature a two-week tournament comprised of the top seven teams. The opening round is best-of-three series and will be held May 2-4 at the sites of the No. 2 (vs. No. 7), 3 (vs. 6) and 4 (vs. 5) seeds. The league’s top seed from the regular season will receive an opening-round bye and host the double-elimination championship round on May 8-10. The LSC Tournament Champion will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championship.
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2025 LSC BASEBALL PRESEASON POLL, AWARDS, PLAYERS/PITCHERS TO WATCH
Preseason Poll
| Rank |
Team |
1st |
Total |
| 1 |
Angelo State |
29 |
483 |
| 2 |
Lubbock Christian |
5 |
457 |
| 3 |
West Texas A&M |
2 |
411 |
| 4 |
UT Tyler |
1 |
386 |
| 5 |
St. Edward’s |
|
311 |
| 6 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
|
268 |
| 7 |
UT Permian Basin |
|
266 |
| 8 |
Texas A&M International |
2 |
234 |
| 9 |
St. Mary’s |
|
205 |
| 10 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
200 |
| 11 |
Cameron |
|
143 |
| 12 |
Oklahoma Christian |
|
119 |
| 13 |
Sul Ross State |
|
66 |
Preseason Player of the Year
Jacob Guerrero, OF, Gr., Angelo State
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Rawley Hector, RHP, Sr., UT Tyler
Preseason Players to Watch
| Name |
School |
Pos. |
Class. |
Major |
Hometown |
| Jacob Guerrero |
Angelo State |
OF |
Gr. |
Accounting |
Colleyville, Texas |
| Lance Barnett |
Cameron |
UTL |
Sr. |
Sports & Ex. Sci. |
Fort Worth, Texas |
| Luciano Terilli |
Eastern New Mexico |
OF/LHP |
Sr. |
Business Admin. |
Dallas, Texas |
| Brevin McCool |
Lubbock Christian |
1B/3B |
Sr. |
Biology |
Hobbs. N.M. |
| Hunter Jones |
Oklahoma Christian |
C |
Sr. |
Exercise Science |
Norman, Okla. |
| Lance Little |
St. Edward’s |
1B |
Sr. |
Accounting |
Georgetown, Texas |
| Brendan Concannon |
St. Mary’s |
OF |
Sr. |
Exercise & Sport Sci. |
Flower Mound, Texas |
| Estevan Ortiz |
Sul Ross State |
SS |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
Uvalde, Texas |
| Abiam Medina |
Texas A&M International |
3B |
Sr. |
Business Admin. |
Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Vincent Sanchez |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
INF |
Sr. |
N/A |
Houston, Texas |
| Kaleb Scull |
UT Permian Basin |
SS |
Sr. |
Marketing |
Lubbock, Texas |
| Kaston Mason |
UT Tyler |
1B/OF |
Jr. |
Management |
Rockwall, Texas |
| Kyle Micklus |
West Texas A&M |
C |
Sr. |
General Studies |
Waller, Texas |
Preseason Pitchers to Watch
| Name |
School |
Pos. |
Class |
Major |
Hometown |
| Caleb Heuertz |
Angelo State |
RHP |
Sr. |
Business Mngt. |
Angelo, Texas |
| Elijah Tolsma |
Cameron |
RHP |
Sr. |
Sports & Ex. Sci. |
Torrance, Calif. |
| Adrian Rubio |
Eastern New Mexico |
RHP |
Sr. |
Criminal Justice |
El Paso, Texas |
| Ryan Markwardt |
Lubbock Christian |
LHP |
Sr. |
Mngt. Info. Systems |
Itasca, Texas |
| Chris Jones |
Oklahoma Christian |
RHP |
Sr. |
Business |
Sapulpa. Okla. |
| Jakub Rayfield |
St. Edward’s |
RHP |
Sr. |
Criminal Justice |
San Antonio, Texas |
| Kaleb Gauna |
St. Mary’s |
RHP |
Jr. |
Ex. & Sport Science |
Hondo, Texas |
| Ryan Sandoval |
Sul Ross State |
RHP |
Sr. |
Math |
El Paso, Texas |
| Lalo Salinas |
Texas A&M International |
RHP |
Sr. |
Business Admin. |
McAllen, Texas |
| Ulises Quiroga |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
RHP |
Gr. |
N/A |
Baytown, Texas |
| Trevor Barth |
UT Permian Basin |
RHP |
Sr. |
Accounting |
Beaverton, Ore. |
| Rawley Hector |
UT Tyler |
RHP |
Sr. |
Marketing |
Van Alstyne, Texas |
| Michael Guerrero |
West Texas A&M |
RHP |
Sr. |
General Studies |
La Romana, Dominican Republic |
