This Week in Rattlers Baseball
St. Mary's at Sul Ross State
January 30-February 1 // Games 1-3 // Alpine, Texas // Kokernot Field
Broadcast: FloCollege
Sul Ross State Lobos
Record   0-0
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Caleb Abney
SRS Record   4-46 (2nd Year)
Career Record   38-92 (4th Year)
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record   0-0
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Frank Kellner
StMU Record   49-54 (3rd Year)
Career Record   Same
By The Numbers
6 St. Mary's was picked sixth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll in a vote by the league's coaches, SIDs and media. The Rattlers received 404 votes, the second-highest predicted finish since joining the Lone Star Conference.
6 The Rattlers return four starting position players and two starting pitchers from 2025 in Garrett Brooks, Jacob King, Dillon Lopez and Raithen Malone in the field, and Gabe Cook and Kaleb Gauna on the mound.
3 The Rattlers pitching staff threw three shutouts last season, which ranked 47th in the nation and was the fourth-most in the Lone Star Conference, showing how offensive baseball is in Division II.
Starting Things Off: St. Mary's Baseball begins the 82nd season of competition with a three-game series at Sul Ross State beginning on Friday. All 50 regular season games are Lone Star Conference games with the addition of UT Dallas to the league.
Time Change: The first game of the series has been moved up to a 2 p.m. start to try to play under slightly warmer conditions.
Leading Off: This is second-straight season that St. Mary's has opened against Sul Ross State. The Lobos joined the league in 2024, and StMU welcomed them by winning three of the four games, including an 11-1 run-rule in the finale.
Regionally Ranked: The Rattlers are ranked 9th in the initial NCBWA South Central Region poll. The Rattlers received 18 points, while UT Tyler leads the region with 77 points. Colorado Mesa is second, while Angelo State is third. The Patriots received five of the first-place votes, while the Mavs collected two and the Rams got the other one.
Selected Sixth: Entering its seventh year in the Lone Star Conference, St. Mary's has been selected sixth, its second-highest ever in the preseason poll, the league announced. The 2021 team was predicted to finish fifth, coming off the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. The Rattlers received 404 points in the 2026 preseason poll. UT Tyler and Angelo State each gathered 20 first-place votes, but the Patriots edged the Rams in the title of preseason favorite by four points, 603 to 599. Lubbock Christian (510), St. Edward's (501), and West Texas A&M (474) round out the top five.
Season Openers: St. Mary's is 42-34 all-time in known season openers, and 1-1 since Frank Kellner became head coach. Last season, the Rattlers defeated Sul Ross State, 3-1 in the opener.
Brooks Knows Ball: Senior Garrett Brooks brings a 16-game reached base streak into the 2026 season. He also reached in 23 of his final 24 games of his junior campaign. Brooks reached base in 46 of the 53 games in which he played in 2025. (This headline is a tribute to entrepreneur and consultant Brookeknowsball. Find her on Instagram and TikTok for stories on MLB past and present.)
What We're Made Of: The Rattlers have 21 players returning from last season, 11 transfers and six freshman on the roster for 2026. A total of 34 of the student-athletes hail from Texas, while there is also one player each from Alabama, Illinois, and South Carolina.
They're Smart Too: A week ago, the LSC released the Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester, and 22 baseball student-athletes were honored, including Daniel Vogt who posted a perfect 4.00 GPA in the fall semester. The other players who were a 3.30 or better were Ryan Alaniz, Blake Allen, Chase Bright, Garrett Brooks, Braeden Brown, Miguel Bustamante, Kieffer Doxey, Brandon Ermis, Kaleb Gauna, Rob Gonzalez, Matthew Janecek, Jacob King, Dillon Lopez, Derek Maples, Matt Mendez, Edward Mendoza, Christian Molinar, Tristan Moreno, Jimmy Mowles, Brant Stringer, and Brandon Vasquez.
Fit For a King: Senior Jacob King enters his final season with the Rattlers needing only four hits for 100 in his career. King also has 59 RBI, 22 2B, 5 3B, 6 HR and 10 SB in 112 games played.
Gauna and Done It: Kaleb Gauna recorded three of the team's eight quality starts last year and returns for his senior season ready to add to his list of accomplishments. Gauna threw a complete game shutout over then-#15 St. Edward's. He allowed only two hits over the seven innings, and had a no hitter through 6 1/3, becoming the first Rattler since 2022 to throw a complete game. He was named both Lone Star and NCBWA South Central Region Pitcher of the Week. Gauna also had quality starts against Sul Ross State (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 K) and Cameron (6 IP, 2 ER, 9 K) during the 2025 season.
Going Bananas: Recent graduate Easton Parrish was drafted in the seventh round of the inaugural BBCL draft by the Savannah Bananas. Parrish will wear No. 17 with the Bananas, the same number both he and his brother, Colton, wore with the Rattlers. He was a three-time LSC All-Academic team and was named to the LSC All-Conference Third-Team as a senior.
Family Ties: The Rattlers have a set of brothers on the team for the 2026 season in senior Brody Ticer and freshman Garrett Ticer. The two are nephews of current men's basketball coach Bubba Meyer. Sophomore Brandon Ermis is the son of former head coach and long-time assistant coach Chris Ermis, who also played for the Rattlers.
A Look Back: The 2025 Rattlers were 29-24 on the year and 26-22 in the Lone Star Conference. The team finished in sixth place, and was knocked out of the Lone Star Conference Tournament in a tightly contested three-game series at St. Edward's.
