Hounds picked to tie for fifth in LSC baseball

RICHARDSON, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University’s baseball team was picked to tie for fifth-place with Cameron in the now-six-team Lone Star Conference preseason poll, released on Thursday by the conference office.

The Greyhounds are coming off a 21-27 season (8-20 LSC) under Chris Terry, who left in August to become the head coach at Regis University in Denver. ENMU and Cameron each received 28 points in the poll.

Texas A&M-Kingsville, which won the LSC postseason tournament last year, had 95 points and notched 10 of 18 first-place votes to take the No. 1 spot in the poll, followed by Angelo State, Tarleton State and West Texas A&M. The Javelinas also had the player and pitcher of the year, respectively, in seniors Taylor Taska and Dallas Ponder.

Two schools, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word, left the LSC this year to move into the Division I Southland Conference.

The regular season begins on Feb. 1. Each team will play home-and-home series against the other five league members, with one series consisting of four games and the other three.

The regular-season champion will be seeded No. 1 and host the conference tournament May 8-10. The winner of the postseason tourney will receive the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division II tournament.

LSC BASEBALL POLL

School (1st-place votes) Pts

1. Texas A&M-Kingsville (10) 95

2. Angelo State (4) 83

3. Tarleton State (3) 81

4. West Texas A&M (1) 63

5. Cameron 28

tie. Eastern New Mexico 28

Preseason awards

Player of the year — Taylor Taska, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Sr., 1B/RHP.

Pitcher of the year — Dallas Ponder, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Sr., RHP.