KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 27 Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program will hit the road this weekend to compete in the 2018 Lone Star Championships hosted by No. 8 West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.

The Hogs will head into the tournament as the third seed and will face off against sixth-seeded UT-Permian Basin to open the championships on Thursday, May 10, with first pitch at 3 p.m. CT.

The Javelinas are fresh off a four-game sweep of Cameron to close the season and lock in the third seed, while the Falcons snuck in after splitting the series against Eastern New Mexico and winning the tiebreaker against the Aggies by virtue of one win against TAMUK.

The Blue and Gold are led by senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) who raised his average to .372 following the four-game slate against CU with a team-leading 55 hits to go with 40 runs, 36 RBI, nine doubles and a pair of triples.

The Hogs have four batters hitting over .300 at the conclusion of the regular-season as senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas), redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) and junior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) all join Zents at the top of the charts with averages of .308, .300 and .300, respectively.

On the mound, senior Jarred Taylor (Vidor, Texas) took the lead in game two against the Aggies and hurled a complete-game shutout to lower his team-leading ERA to 1.03 with a 4-0 record through 35 innings pitched alongside 32 strikeouts and a .202 opponent batting average.

Junior Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) is the primary option out of the bullpen with a 1.38 ERA in 26 innings pitched to go with five saves and 46 strikeouts.

Senior Kyle Craft (Victoria, Texas) is the other starter in the rotation with a sub-3.00 ERA as he sits at 2.27 through 39.2 innings pitched with a 5-1 record, while freshman Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) both lead the Hogs with six wins apiece.

SCOUTING UT-PERMIAN BASIN (9-40, 5-19 LSC | 2018 vs TAMUK: 1-7)

TAMUK is no stranger to UT-Permian Basin as both teams have already faced each other in two four-game series earlier in the year, first in Odessa, Texas, for a non-conference affair and again in Kingsville for an LSC matchup.

The Hogs swept the first series against the Falcons and needed all hands on deck to secure three of the four games at Nolan Ryan Field for the conference matchup. The Blue and Gold took the first game in Kingsville thanks to 10 strikeouts in seven innings from Flores, before UTPB took game two on the heels of a complete game from Owen Bessette.

The Javelinas rebounded in game three after Plovanich struck out 10 in five innings of work, while senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) walked off with the win in game four to clinch the series.

The Falcons will feature one batter hitting over .300 as Alexander Wixson leads the way with a .342 average through 38 appearances behind 36 hits, 22 RBI, 11 doubles, one triple and a home run, as Dalton Drury is the next consistent performer at the plate with a .286 average.

As a team, UTPB is hitting .246 as six of its members are hitting above .250 with at least 15 starts and 20 appearances.

The pitching staff for UT-Permian Basin own a collective 7.83 ERA as Tyler Averitt and Ivan Thomas are the lone pair with an ERA below 6.00. Averitt sits at a 5.40 ERA through 28.1 innings pitched in 18 relief appearances, while Thomas is at 5.60 through 53 innings pitched in 10 starts.

Alex Rivera is the premier punchout thrower for the Falcons as he leads the team with 59 through 50 innings pitched, but owns a 7.56 ERA and a 3-6 mark on the mound.

SCOUTING TARLETON STATE (33-15, 18-6 LSC | 2018 vs TAMUK: 3-1)

The winner of the contest between TAMUK and UTPB will go on to face Tarleton State on Friday, May 11, at 3 p.m. CT at Wilder Park. The Texans bested the Hogs with three of four in the only four-game matchup earlier in the year in Stephenville, Texas.

TSU took the first three games by scores of 10-5, 11-2 and 2-0, while the Hogs avoided the sweep with a 14-1 final in game four.

The Texans is hitting .311 as a team with Francisco Rodriguez and Blake Adams both hitting over .350 at .386 and .379, respectively.

Rodriguez leads the team with 68 hits to go with 45 runs, 49 RBI, 16 doubles, two triples and nine home runs, while Adams owns a team-best 67 runs, 62 RBI and 14 home runs for a .734 slugging percentage.

The TSU pitching staff owns a collective 5.17 ERA through the regular season with Connor Flanagan leading the way with a 1.80 ERA through 25 innings pitched. Nathan Hickey and Evan Pontley are the 1-2 punch for the Texas as both have made 13 starts with Hickey owning a 9-2 record with a 3.04 ERA and 85 strikeouts, while Pontley sits at 8-2 with a 3.50 ERA and 75 punchouts.

Eddie Avila is the go-to closer for Tarleton State as he leads the team with 13 saves in 19 relief appearances with a 4.37 ERA and 37 strikeouts.

SCOUTING ANGELO STATE (33-17, 14-10 LSC | 2018 vs TAMUK: 1-3)

The other opening-round matchup of the 2018 LSC Championships will feature fourth-seeded Angelo State against fifth-seeded Eastern New Mexico with the winner moving on to face the top-seeded Buffs.

The Rams are 6-2 against the Greyhounds after sweeping ENMU in Portales in a non-conference series before splitting the Lone Star matchup later in the season. ASU sits at 1-3 against the Hogs after TAMUK took three of four in Kingsville thanks largely to 16 runs on 13 hits in the first game to set the tone.

The Javelinas dropped the second game of the matchup, 4-1, before rebounding with a 3-0 win in game three thanks to a complete-game shutout from Craft and closing out the series with a 9-5 win after getting a 10-out save from Valdez in the process.

The Rams feature four members hitting at least .350 on the year with Parker Bramlett paving the way with a .365 mark through 44 appearances, with Bradley Mathiowetz close behind at .361 alongside a team-best .540 slugging percentagae.

Nicholas Novak sits third on the team with a .352 mark while tied for the team lead with 58 hits,while Jacob Boston rounds out the quartet with a .350 mark on 57 hits and 45 RBI.

Kellen Rholl and Tyler Lesley lead the pitching staff as Rholl has made 24 relief appearances for a 3-2 mark, 2.79 ERA through 29 innings pitched and 10 saves. Lesley, meanwhile, leads the rotation with a 9-2 mark through 13 starts, a 2.92 ERA through 77 innings pitched and 69 strikeouts.

Outside of Rholl and Lesley, no other pitcher features an ERA below 3.00 with more than six appearances as the Rams own a 4.15 ERA as a team.

SCOUTING EASTERN NEW MEXICO (23-23, 7-17 LSC | 2018 vs TAMUK: 1-3)

The Greyhounds hosted the Hogs earlier in the season as the Javelinas took three of four in the Lone Star matchup following offensive outbursts of a 13-run win in game one, 17-run win in game three and 20-run win in game four.

ENMU is hitting .324 as a team with seven starters hitting over .300, led by Alex De La Cruz's .389 mark on 68 hits, 41 RBI, 15 doubles, four triples and five home runs.

Garlind Webster and Zach Shank are the other two starters hitting over the .350 mark as Webster sits at .359 on 42 hits while Shank owns a .352 mark on 44 hits.

The pitching staff owns a 6.76 collective ERA with Levi Shandrew as the only consistent performer at a 2.90 ERA though 15 appearances, six saves and 41 strikeouts.

Keenan Dodd and Enrique Perez are the two pitchers with at least 10 starts as Dodd owns a 6-3 mark with a 4.62 ERA and 44 strikeouts, while Perez is 6-3 with a 5.68 ERA and 47 punchouts.

SCOUTING WEST TEXAS A&M (38-11, 20-4 LSC | 2018 vs TAMUK: 4-4)

The Buffs' top seed is courtesy of a 20-4 record in Lone Star play, suffering a split against Tarleton before taking three of four in the matchups against Angelo State and TAMUK. The Hogs bested WT with three wins in four games in a non-conference matchup earlier in the season before the Buffs returned the favor in conference play at Canyon.

West Texas A&M is hitting .320 as a team with six batters owning a mark over .300 as Tag Baxters leads with a .368 average through 31 starts, while Nick Canas has started every game and turned in a .352 average.

Luis Amaro is the premier power hitter on WT as his .722 slugging percentage courtesy of 17 doubles and 14 home runs leads the team to go with 67 RBI.

A 4.59 ERA punctuates the pitching staff for the Buffs with Dominic Yearego on top with a 2.86 ERA on 28.1 innings pitched a six saves, while Braden Baker also owns six saves on a 3.31 ERA and a 6-2 record.

Joe Corbett is the top hurler in the rotation for WT with a 9-2 record and 3.32 ERA through 81.1 innings pitched and a team-leading 83 strikeouts, with Darin Cook close behind on a 3.82 ERA, 9-2 mark aand 78 strikeouts.

The first two games of the championships will take place on Thursday, May 10, with TAMUK vs UTPB leading off a 3p.m. CT and ASU vs ENMU following at 7 p.m. CT.

The winner of TAMUK/UTPB will face Tarleton State at 3 p.m. CT on Friday, May 11, while the ASU/ENMU winner will move on to face West Texas A&M at 7 p.m. CT later the same day.

The championship will be played at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 12.

2018 LSC Baseball Championship Central

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