The Lone Star Conference baseball season is heating up with two weeks of league action remaining. Incarnate Word and Southeastern Oklahoma lead the LSC with identical 19-8 records, while Southwestern Oklahoma and Tarleton State are just one game back as teams compete for one of six spots in the LSC Baseball Championship field.
LSC baseball teams are 268-240 overall this season. Combined the squads are currently 30-14 versus Heartland Conference teams and 5-3 against the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association, which are the other two conferences in the NCAA South Central Region.
DIAMOND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTERS
Eric Walker, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, SR, 1B, Oklahoma City, Okla., Westmoore HS
Walker posted a monster weekend to help Southeastern keep pace atop the Lone Star Conference with a road series victory over Cameron. He hit .636 over the three-game set, going 7-of-11 at the plate, while drawing a walk, two hit-by-pitches and adding a pair of sac flies. Three of his seven hits were home runs, including a grand slam. Walker drove in 11 runs on the weekend, nearly a third of the 34 RBI the Storm had. He slugged 1.636 and had a total of five extra-base hits. His on-base percentage was .625 and not only did he record a hit in each game, he homered in each game. Walker was errorless in the field, playing two games at first base and catching the other and successfully converting on 22 defensive chances.
Jess Cooper, West Texas A&M University, JR, IF, Belle Fourche, SD, Belle Fourche HS
Cooper continued to swing a hot bat as the Buffs went 4-1 this past week with a doubleheader sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State before taking two of three games from Abilene Christian at home. Cooper went 12-for-19 with a .632 batting average, driving in 12 runs on three doubles and three homeruns for a slugging percentage of 1.263. Against ACU, Cooper hit .615 with nine RBI and three homeruns in the three-game series.
PITCHERS
Kirk Jewasko, University of the Incarnate Word, JR, SP, San Antonio, Texas, East Central HS
Jewasko pitched eight complete innings against Texas A&M-Kingsville this weekend, striking out nine Javelinas and allowing just three hits and one run (unearned) in 31 batters faced. He improved his record to 9-1 on the season and upped his strikeout total to 71 in 10 appearances.
Jordan Stern, University of Central Oklahoma, SR, SP, Plano, Texas
Stern tossed a nine-inning complete game in leading UCO to a 6-2 win over No. 18-ranked Tarleton State, who entered the weekend as the league leader, last Saturday. The senior right-hander scattered eight hits while walking four and striking out a season-high 11, shutting out the Texans the last six innings as the Bronchos broke away from a 2-2 tie in taking the victory en route to sweeping the three-game series.
The Tarleton Texan football team played its Spring Game in front of almost 1,000 fans in Memorial Stadium Saturday, and head coach Cary Fowler was pleased with the results.
“Tonight was satisfying,” Fowler said. “The offense made plays, and the defense made plays. We took care of the ball for the most part, and we moved the ball on offense. We also made some big plays on defense with some sacks and some stops.”
The head coach said he was also pleased with the effort displayed.
“Whether it was a four-yard run or a five-yard loss, both the offense and defense were running to the ball after the play,” Fowler said. “The effort tonight was incredible, and I always said if I ever became a head coach and could get that type of effort, I would extremely pleased, and I am. And we have seen that type of effort all spring.”
Randy and Susan Wyatt and the Aggregate Cooking Team donated ribs, brisket, sausage, beans and potato salad, and all the proceeds made by selling the barbeque will go to the Texan football program.
“The crowd was phenomenal,” Fowler said. “The cooking team did an unbelievable job putting that on. Thanks to them donating the money, we are able to make profit for our program. We had a big night tonight, and we raised a lot of money. With that and the Bobby Fox golf tournament, we will be able to buy some jerseys and shoulder pads along with other things these kids need and deserve.
“We had a lot of support tonight, and it was wonderful,” Fowler continued. “I am not sure how many people were here, but since we opened the serving line around 4 p.m., we had a steady flow.”
The Texans are not finished with their spring practices, however. The NCAA allows 15 practices, and Fowler and his coaching staff will take full advantage of getting one more practice in to make 15 total sessions.
“We will work through the game video and film some drills,” Fowler said. “We are just going to practice. You know the more times we can throw and catch a football, the more times you can cover, the more times you come off the ball with a young football team, the more experience this team is going to get.
“We are just going to have fun,” the head coach said. “These kids have fun playing football. You see them before and after practice cutting up with each other, but they work hard during practice. I am excited about this team, and I know we are going to continue to get better and prepared for the 2011 season.”
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