Baseball Faces Chaps for Four

This Week in Rattlers Baseball
#27 Lubbock Christian (7-5) at St. Mary's (7-2)
February 21-23 // Games 10-13 // San Antonio // Dickson Stadium
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow

Lubbock Christian
Record    7-5, 7-5 LSC
Ranking    ABCA #27
Head Coach    Nathan Blackwood
LCU Record    809-372 (22nd Year)
Career Record    Same

St. Mary's Rattlers
Record    7-2, 6-2 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Frank Kellner
StMU Record    27-32 (2nd Year)
Career Record    Same

Game Time Change: Due to the impending weather forecast in San Antonio, the game time for Friday has been moved to 3 p.m.

Joining the Ranks: St. Mary's remained seventh in the second NCBWA South Central Region poll after starting the season 7-2. The Rattlers are ranked 7th with 31 points. Angelo State leads the region with 79 points and seven of the eight first-place votes.

Scouting The Opposition: Lubbock Christian is 7-5 on the year, coming off a 3-1 series win over Oklahoma Christian last week. Ryan Markwardt was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game shutout where he retired 19 straight. Brevin McCool was named the National Hitter of the Week the previous week after hitting .625 with 13 runs scored in a dominating performance against Sul Ross State. McCool leads the team with a .520 batting average as the Chaps hit .392, and he has nine of the team's 22 home runs.

Three by Three: A trio of Rattlers each had three hits in the win over Our Lady of the Lake in Jake Elizondo, Trey Guajardo and Matt Gauna, for nine of the team's 13 hits. Gauna also led the game with three RBI, the highest total of his career.

Jake(s) From St. Mary's: Senior Jake Elizondo has reached base safely in all nine games this season and is hitting .394. The middle infielder is tied for the team lead with 13 hits, alongside Jacob King, has scored a team-best 15 runs and each have 10 RBIs.  Elizondo is also a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases. King paces the team with a .500 (13-26) batting average, and he's been hit by a pitch four times.

A Rose by Any Other Name: Junior Hagen Rose has yet to allow an earned run this season, posting a record of 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched. He has struck out 10 and foes are hitting only .154 against him. He is the pitcher in the league to have multiple wins and an unblemished ERA. 

Swiper, No Swiping: Junior Tristan Moreno tied the school record stealing three bases in the first game on Saturday at Oklahoma Christian. Moreno becomes the ninth different Rattler to swipe three bags in a single game, and the first since Clay Bradford stole three against UT Tyler on April 23, 2022.

At Your Own Risk: Fifth-year senior Easton Parrish threw out a pair of would-be base stealers last week at Oklahoma Christian. Parrish has now gunned down 20 runners in his career, after throwing out eight a season ago.

Picked Ninth: St. Mary's has been picked to finish ninth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. The Rattlers, who finished 20-30 in 2024, received 205 points in a vote by the league's head coaches, athletics communication personnel and selected media members. Angelo State, which played for the national championship a season ago, was predicted to win the league in 2025, garnering 29 of the 39 first-place votes and 483 points. Defending LSC Champions, Lubbock Christian, was picked second with five first-place votes and 457 points. West Texas A&M, UT Tyler and St. Edward's round out the top five.

Taking the Fifth: Pitchers Brett Brown and Javier De Alejandro, outfielder Trey Guajardo and utility player Easton Parrish have all returned to the 2025 team for a fifth season of eligibility. Brown was 1-0 in 19 appearances a season ago with two saves, while De Alejandro was 1-8, starting all 12 of his appearances. Guajardo played 43 of the team's 50 games, hitting .226, while Parrish started all 48 he played, hitting .299 and leading the team with five triples.

Returning Runs: St. Mary's returns 64.6 percent of its production in runs from the 2024 season, and return the top two run scorers in Jake Elizondo (44) and Garrett Brooks (42). Brooks also led the team with 15 hits, 14 doubles and eight home runs in his first season. 

Nine New Faces: The Rattlers return 23 letterwinners from last year's squad and welcome four transfers and five freshmen to the fold. 

Watch List: Senior infielder Brendan Concannon was named a Player to Watch by the Lone Star Conference. Concannon was leading the team with a .429 batting average, .651 slugging percentage and a .486 on-base percentage when he suffered a season-ending injury. Junior Kaleb Gauna was 5-3 in 2024, pitching 52 innings to be named a Pitcher to Watch. Gauna struck out 42, starting 12 of his 13 appearances.

A Burst of Speed: Senior Jake Elizondo collected over 34 percent of the team's stolen bases a season ago, swiping 13 of the 53 bags.

Season 75: St. Mary's begins its 75th year of baseball in 2025. The Rattlers entered the year 1989-1115 all-time and have made seven NCAA Postseason appearances since joining Division II in 2000.