- Tournament Central
HOUSTON – The Tarleton Texan baseball team will open-up the 2013 campaign in Houston, Texas this weekend, participating in the Astros in Action D-II Invitational. The eight-team tournament, which is being played at Minute Maid Park, will be held Friday, Feb. 1 – Monday, Feb. 4.
The Texans will play three games in Houston this weekend. Tarleton opens the season this Friday against Arkansas Tech, with a first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tarleton will play Arkansas-Monticello in Saturday's contest, slated to begin at 4 p.m. The Texans will then close out the tournament against Emporia State on Sunday, with a first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m.
The Texans are coming off a 2012 season in which they went 30-21 overall and 16-12 in the Lone Star Conference. The Texans finished in a fourth-place tie with West Texas A&M, but earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament.
The No. 5 seeding did not mean much to the Texans as they reeled off a pair of wins over No. 2-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-2) and No. 3-seeded Incarnate Word (3-2). No. 1-seeded and tournament hosts Angelo State downed the Texans in round three, but Tarleton again posted a pair of wins to move onto the championship game.
Tarleton eliminated Abilene Christian with a 3-2 win and then handed ASU its only loss of the tournament with a 2-0 victory. The Texans and Rams met in the championship game, but ASU came away with the victory, 6-0.
“The LSC should again be one of the top D2 conferences in the country,” head coach
Bryan Conger said. “We believe each team will be improved from last season and look forward to the opportunity to compete day in and day out this year.”
The Texans return six all-conference honorees from last season, including a first team all-LSC selection and this year's LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year,
Pete Perez (RHP, Sr, River City, Calif.). Perez went 8-3 last season and posted a 2.06 earned run average. His ERA was second best in the league, but his .194 batting average to opposing hitters was tops in the conference. He was second in the league as he rang-up 83 batters in 2012.
Also returning to the team is second team all-conference performer Britt Robertershaw (RHP, Sr, Cedar Park), who went 4-2 with seven saves in 21 appearances last season. His seven saves were third in the league. He posted a 2.15 ERA and recorded 42 strikeouts.
Jonathan Schmitz (C, So, College Station), also named to the all-LSC second team last season, returns after batting .307 with six doubles, a pair of home runs and 19 runs-batted-in. Honorable mention returners include
Matt Buckmaster (LHP, Sr, Holliday),
Ryan Small (INF, Sr, Longview), and
Noah Ringenberger (OF, Sr, Flower Mound).
“We feel good about our starting rotation going into the season especially with three of the four spots being manned by senior returners,” said Conger. “We have, who I felt, was the best starting pitcher in the LSC last season in
Pete Perez and he will be joined in the rotation by senior
Miguel Ramirez, who before his injury two seasons ago, was without a doubt the best starting pitcher in the conference and was having an All-American type year. The third member returning in the rotation will be lefty [Matt] Buckmaster. Matty won six games for us last season and we feel like he will have an 8-10 win type of season this year. Also returning out of the bullpen is senior
Tanner Ross who does a great job of leading by example and has worked hard to be in a position to contribute this spring.”
“This group of returning position players has done a great job of teaching the new guys, and they have done a tremendous job in their preparation for this spring. Leading this group is [Ryan] Small. He is the type of player that every coach wants on the team. His competitive nature is a driving force in our program. Also returning this season will be the sophomore trio of
Evan Robinson, [Jonathan] Schmitz and
Landon Thompson. Evan has really become an anchor at the shortstop position for us and his consistency day-to-day and rep-to-rep is special. Jonathan should be back behind the plate soon as he is recovering from knee surgery. We felt by the end of the spring last year John was one of the top two catchers in the conference as a true freshman.
Landon Thompson has really improved defensively this fall and is also pitching very well right now. We anticipate him getting some very important innings on the mound for us this spring. Also returning this spring is Chris Patton. Chris started in LF for us last season and is the epitome of a fountain. He brings energy and smiles to the program everyday and that in and of itself is something special to watch.”
Conger adds a few newcomers to the program as well in
Rustin Thomas (OF, Jr, Mansfield),
Alvaro Moreno (INF, Jr, McAllen),
Colten Boothe (DH, Jr, Buda) and
Fola Lajide (OF, Sr, Grand Prairie).
“This year's offense should be the most complete we have had since I have been here,” said Conger. This group of newcomers that we have all have a common trait - they can hit and they can run. Thomas will more than likely get a lot of time in the No. 2 hole and does everything the way the coaches have asked. He will be a real spark plug for us and we can see him being a 30 stolen bases kind of player. Another impact newcomer will be
Alvaro Moreno as he is a pure hitter. He has a chance to really do some damage at the plate and drive in a ton of runs. Boothe will hit in the clean-up spot for us and he is in the same mold of Alvaro. The nice part about both of these young men is they are prototypical 3-4 hitters except that they don't clog up the bases and they can drive in runs.
“Joining that group are also DI transfers
Fola Lajide and
Nico Moran. Fola will get time in leftfield and has the potential to be 3-5 type hitter. He is a great young man and has tremendous make up. Nico will be out in center for us and will step in immediately and contribute. We feel he is another Rustin type on the bases and gives us tremendous speed on the field. We also have two more newcomers we feel really good about.
Jake Klauck gives us versatility on the infield with his ability to play either second or third base. He has a good left-handed swing and is going to be a major player for us. The final piece to the newcomer picture is
Matt Olive. Matt is the most polished freshman hitter we have recruited. He can hit and he has improved defensively in the outfield. We foresee him being able to step in and contribute right away.”
Following the tournament in Houston, Tarleton remains on the road with an away series at Ouachita Baptist Feb. 9-10. The Texans will then make its home debut on Tuesday, Feb. 12, with a non-conference game against Texas Wesleyan.
Following a couple more non-conference series', Tarleton will head to Abilene to play in the ACU Invitational, which will run Feb. 28 through Mar. 3.
The Texans will host Eastern New Mexico Mar. 15-17 in its first LSC series of the season. Tarleton will also host UIW (Apr. 5-7), ACU (Apr. 19-21) and Cameron (Apr. 26-28) in LSC action at home.
LSC series' on the road this season include going to play at West Texas A&M (Mar. 22-24), at TAMUK (Mar. 28-29) and at ASU (Apr. 12-14).
“Our schedule will certainly be challenging, but we like it that way” said Conger. “We had the fourth toughest schedule in the country last season and we believe at the end of the year this season, it will be even tougher. If you want to be the best, you need to compete against the best.”
The Texans were picked to finish third in the LSC according to a preseason poll released late last week. The Texans received 112 total points, just one point shy of the Javelinas who were picked to finish second. ASU was the unanimous vote for winning the conference again this season.
“We look forward to this season's journey,” said Conger. “This group of kids will play hard and compete. We have told them that what we eventually become as a team will depend on our ability to stay focused in the present moment. The better we get at operating in green lights and staying true to 'What's Important Now', the better we will become.”
For more information on this weekend's tournament in Houston, including ticket pricing, parking, schedules and live stat links just
click here.
