Tarleton State University Athletics

Mason Crews enters his second season on the Tarleton State Baseball coaching staff after a three-year playing career with the Texans, including a Western Athletic Conference Tournament title in his final season.
 
Crews will serve as Director of Player Development and Camp Director in 2026, his second season in a similar role. In his first season on staff, Tarleton State went .500 in WAC play (12-12), 24-32 overall with a 19-14 home record. Tarleton State made consecutive WAC Tournament appearances for the first time, buoyed by a final home series sweep of Grand Canyon. Tarleton State’s 2025 schedule was a daunting challenge, with several games against Power Four conference opponents, including a three-game series against Kansas, a home game against Kansas State and road games at No. 25 TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech. The Texans made national waves during the first week of the season in just their second game, in which Tarleton State scored 31 runs in seven innings against Butler, winning 31-5 in run-rule fashion. That marked Tarleton State's largest win in its NCAA Division I era, as well as the program's most runs scored in the D1 era. Tarleton State had five players named All-WAC, 16 Academic All-WAC, and were top-50 in the nation in triples (26, fourth), double plays (46, 27th) and steals (106, 46th). Conference-wise, the Texans were second in batting average (.299), second in slugging percentage (.479), and third in runs per game (7.6).
 
Crews played six seasons of collegiate baseball, three with Tarleton State (2022-24) and three with Kansas State. At Tarleton State, he played in 102 career games with 84 starts as a catcher, spotting a career .989 fielding percentage with 635 putouts and 65 assists. He hit nine home runs and 20 dobules, with a .219 batting average and .354 on-base percentage. In his final season, Crews helped the Texans win the WAC Tournament, as he posted a career-high .407 slugging percentage in 2024. At Kansas State, Crews appeared in 16 games over three seasons with the Wildcats, batting .190.