Two weeks of Lone Star Conference games remain as teams compete
for one of six spots in the Lone Star Conference Championship to be
held in Abilene, Texas, May 1-2-3-4.
LSC action continued last week with Angelo State and Abilene
Christian both sweeping their four-game series, while Tarleton
State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Eastern New Mexico and West Texas
A&M each won three of four games.
LSC Baseball teams are 258-244 overall this season. In the
NCAA South Central Region, the LSC is currently 10-9 combined
versus Heartland Conference squads and 6-1 against the Mid-America
Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).
Diamond Players of the Week
HITTER
Jerry Rodriguez, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Jr., 2B,
Canovanas, P.R.
Rodriguez led the Javelinas to three wins over Southeastern
Oklahoma this week. After missing two and a half weeks due to
injury, he hit a pinch-hit, two-run double with two outs in the
bottom of the sixth inning to win Game 1 for the team. In the
second game, Rodriguez found himself in the lineup for the first
time since March 21 and went 2-for-4 with two RBI’s, a run
and a double. He scored the first run of the game and then
drove in two runs in the second inning of an 11-3 win. In the
third game, the junior reached base and scored in each of his first
three at bats. He went 2-for-3 with three runs, a stolen base
and two walks in the 12-4 win. In the final game of the
series, he was one of the few offensive bright spots in a 13-5 loss
with a 3-for-3 effort including three runs, an RBI, double, hit by
pitch and a walk. For the week he hit .727 and reached base
safely 13-of-16 times.
Chris Casazza, Tarleton State, Jr., 1B/RF, Temecula,
Calif./Chaparral
Casazza clobbered his LSC-leading 10th, 11th and 12th home runs
this weekend with the 12th being a walk-off shot to deep center
field which gave the Texans a 6-4 win over Southwestern Oklahoma in
Stephenville on Saturday and keep Tarleton in the hunt for the
sixth and final spot in the LSC Championships. The junior hit a
collective .474 on the week, recording nine hits, scoring eight
runs and knocking in eight runs batted in as well. He tallied a
.947 slugging percentage and finished the weekend with a .565
on-base percentage. In his first weekend in the outfield, Casazza
recorded eight putouts and had one assist for a 1.000 fielding
percentage.
PITCHER
David de Leon, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Jr., Pitcher,
Corpus Christi, Texas/Calallen
de Leon shut down visiting Southeastern Oklahoma in the opening
game of the series on Friday. After allowing a lead-off
triple and then a run within the first two batters of the game, he
allowed just two hits and two walks the rest of the way. He
earned his seventh win of the season and dropped his earned run
average to 4.21 on the season.
Russell Campbell, Eastern New Mexico, Sr., Pitcher, Sachse,
Texas/Brookhaven/Sachse HS
Campbell turned in his strongest performance of the season,
limiting Central Oklahoma to one single over five innings and
striking out two. His performance allowed the Hounds to post their
first series win over UCO since the 1997 season.