This Week in Rattlers' Baseball
St. Mary's at #25 West Texas A&M
March 28-30 // Games 31-34 // Canyon, Texas // Wilder Park
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Lonnie Wilhite
West Texas A&M
Record   23-7, 21-7 LSC
Ranking   25
Head Coach   Cory Hall
WT Record   23-7 (1st Year)
Career Record   Same
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record   18-12, 16-12 LSC
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Frank Kellner
StMU Record   38-42 (2nd Year)
Career Record   Same
Another Ranked Opponent: For the second straight week and the fourth time this year, the St. Mary's Baseball team faces a ranked foe in the opposite dugout as they travel to #25 West Texas A&M for a four-game series. The Buffs moved into the rankings this week, while St. Edward's dropped out after splitting with StMU last week.
Regionally Ranked: The Rattlers climbed back up one spot in the NCBWA South Central Regional rankings, coming in at 9th this week, earning 14 points. UT Tyler remains in the top spot for the third straight week with five of the eight first-place votes and 77 points.
Turning It Around: New pitching coach Lee Tunnell has made an immediate impact on the program. Three of the four starting pitchers rank in the top 10 in the Lone Star Conference in earned run average, and the team is fourth with a 5.01 ERA. A season ago, the Rattlers ranked 12th out of 13 teams with an 8.66 ERA and no shutouts. The 5.01 ERA is the lowest for a team since the 2018 club combined for a 3.64 ERA (35-18). Individually, junior Hagen Rose is fourth with a 2.55 ERA, senior Javier De Alejandro is sixth at 2.61 and sophomore Gabe Cook ranks seventh with a 3.26 ERA.
It's An Honor: Junior pitcher Kaleb Gauna was named both the Lone Star Conference and NCBWA South Central Region Pitcher of the Week this week. Gauna pitched a two-hit shutout against then-#15 St. Edward's, and had a no hitter through 6 1/3 innings. He needed only 90 pitches for the complete game, and is the first since 2022 to throw a complete game shutout for the Rattlers (Steven Medrano at ENMU).
Split or Better: St. Mary's has either split or won six of the seven Lone Star series this season, dropping only three of four to then-#2 Angelo State. That matches last season's total of six series with five remaining on the 2025 slate.
Heating Up: It took senior Easton Parrish until the fifth series to hit his first home run of the season, launching one in the first game against Texas A&M International. Since then, the catcher has hit six homers to take over the team lead and has raised his batting average .133 points. He also has 16 of his 19 RBIs in the 11-game stretch, with three doubles and 13 runs scored.
Get Them On: This season when there are runners on base, coach Frank Kellner wishes he could clone Hogan Heller. The senior first baseman is hitting .522 (24-for-46) with runners on base and .548 (17-for-31) with runners in scoring position.Â
In a Pinch: The Rattlers have had four different hitters deliver at the plate when entered as a pinch hitter this season. Matt Gauna (4-for-9) leads the team with four hits, while Brandon Ermis (3-for-4), and Christian Keller (3-for-5) each have three hits and e Rob Gonzalez (1-for-2) has the other. These four are 11-for-20, while the other nine are 0-for-16.
Closing In: The Rattlers are only two wins shy of matching their win total from the 2024 season. StMU is 18-12 in 2025, while the team was 20-30 in 2024.
It's Been A While: The five home runs the Rattlers hit in game three against Texas A&M International 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.
Quite the Career: Senior Jake Elizondo currently ranks among the Division II active career leaders in four categories, ranking 21st in at bats (648), 22nd in games played (177), and 45th in hits (184). Fellow senior Easton Parrish jumped onto the hits list in 250th with 129 in his career.
Getting the Early Jump: St. Mary's is 10-1 this season when scoring in the first inning and 14-5 when scoring first in the game. On the flip side, the Rattlers are 4-7 when the opposition scores the first run of the game.
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 was picked to finish ninth in the Lone Star preseason poll. The Rattlers received 205 points. 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.
