Baseball Squares Off With Javelinas This Week

This Week In Rattlers Baseball
St. Mary's at Texas A&M-Kingsville
March 14-16 // Games 23-26 // Kingsville // Nolan Ryan Field
Broadcast: FloCollege

Texas A&M-Kingsville
Record    17-9, 16-8 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Jason Gonzales
TAMUK Record    482-341 (17th Year)
Career Record    Same

St. Mary's Rattlers
Record    14-8, 12-8 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Frank Kellner
StMU Record    34-38 (2nd Year)
Career Record    Same

Headed South: When the majority of college students speak of going south for Spring Break, they don't mean to play a four-game baseball series, but that's what faces the St. Mary's Baseball team as they head to Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday. The two teams split the series a year ago and the Rattlers hold a 58-44-1 lead in the all-time series that started in 1993.

Regionally Ranked: The Rattlers climbed back up one spot in the NCBWA South Central Regional rankings this week, earning 22 points. UT Tyler grabbed the top spot for the first time in 2025 with seven of the eight first-place votes and 79 points.

It's Been A While: The five home runs the Rattlers hit in game three against Texas A&M International on Saturday are the most in a game since the team blasted six at Newman on April 9, 2016. StMU hit nine home runs in the four-game series, with both Easton Parrish and Brendan Concannon hitting three each - their first blasts of the year.

Slashing Numbers: St. Mary's is already more than 2/3 of the way to last season's win total of 20, with a 14-8 mark. A big reason for the team's success is the ERA of the club has been lowered over three full points. In 2024, the Rattlers had an ERA of 8.66, while this year they have a 5.50 ERA, which ranks sixth in the Lone Star Conference. Three of the four in the starting rotation have a 3.13 ERA or better in Hagen Rose (2.36), Gabe Cook (2.91) and Javier De Alejandro (3.13).

Quite the Career: Senior Jake Elizondo currently ranks among the Division II active career leaders in four categories, ranking 20th in at bats (618), 22nd in games played (169), 37th in hits (181) and 40th in runs (130).

Getting the Early Jump: St. Mary's is 9-1 this season when scoring in the first inning and 11-4 when scoring first in the game. On the flip side, the Rattlers are 3-4 when the opposition scores the first run of the game.

Marked Improvement: Senior first baseman Hogan Heller is off to a terrific start to the 2025 season, hitting .406 through 22 games with eight hits for extra bases, a .623 slugging percentage, a .468 on-base percentage and a .993 fielding percentage, making only one error in 149 chances at first base. A season ago, Heller hit .269 in 34 games, with a .343 slugging and .410 on-base percentage.

Top 50: St. Mary's currently ranks in the top 50 in the nation in home runs (34th, 23), runs scored (42nd, 164), and sacrifice flies (47th, 10). 

A Rose by Any Other Name: Junior Hagen Rose leads the Rattlers with a 4-1 record and a 2.36 ERA. In 26.2 innings the junior transfer has allowed only seven earned runs with a 3:1 K:BB ratio and opponents are hitting only .202 against him.

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.

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.