Buffs tabbed to repeat at LSC baseball champs

RICHARDSON, Texas — West Texas A&M was selected to repeat as Lone Star Conference baseball champions, but it should expect some competition if the LSC’s preseason poll holds any merit.

The Buffaloes narrowly edged out Texas A&M-Kingsville for the top spot with nine of the 18 first-place votes and 94 total points. Both teams went 23-12 in the LSC last season.

Eastern New Mexico University tied for fifth place with Cameron in the six-team league, each with 31 points, even though the Aggies received one first-place vote.

WT, which finished 36-20 last season, was in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional for the second-straight year.

The Javelinas had four first-place votes and 90 points in the six-team circuit. Angelo State, which advanced to the Division II championship last spring, got four first-place votes and finished with 80 points, followed by Tarleton State with 52.

Angelo State’s Paxton DeLaGarza was tabbed LSC preseason player of the year, while ASU’s Bryce Zak and WT’s Brooks Trujillo sharedpreseason pitcher of the year honors.

DeLaGarza, a senior infielder/pitcher from Lubbock, Texas, led the LSC last year with a .388 batting average, and pounded out 88 hits with 53 RBIs.

DeLaGarza, the first player in ASU history to be named ABCA first-team all-American, claimed Daktronics All-American first team, LSC Player of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings South Central Positional Player of the Year, Daktronics All-South Central and NCBWA All-South Central honors.

Zak, a senior pitcher from San Angelo, Texas, earned five wins in 70.2 innings. He closed out the season with a 2.67 ERA to earn second team All-LSC acclaim. Zak ranked second in the league in runs allowed (27) and earned runs allowed (21).

Trujillo, a senior pitcher from Parker, Colo., went 2-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 starts. In 79 innings, he held opponents to a .242 batting average, which ranked fifth in the LSC. Trujillo received second team All-LSC honors.

The 10-week season begins Friday, with teams playing seven games each against every team, with one four-game series and one three-game series. Four-game series will consist of a nine-inning game Friday and Sunday with a Saturday doubleheader of seven-inning contests. The three-game series will include a nine-inning Friday game and a Saturday doubleheader with a seven-inning and nine-inning contest.

The top finisher in conference play will host the championships May 12-14, and the winner will receive an automatic NCAA postseason bid.