After a Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) regular-season championship in 2021, the OLLU baseball team has been picked second in the 2022 RRAC Baseball Preseason Poll with 114 points – four of which were first-place votes. The RRAC tournament champion LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) received the first-place ranking with two fewer votes than the Saints and six first-place votes.
The Saints finished their 2021 season with a trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, where they lost in the opening round. They marked their best-ever record of 34-19 overall and 20-4 in the conference.
In 2021, the Saints were picked second; in 2020, they were third; in 2019, fifth; in 2018, sixth; and in 2016 and 2017, fifth.
The team has also displayed success in the classroom with its fourth NAIA Scholar Team award and two consecutive American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Awards.
This year’s squad will be led by 2021 NAIA All-American pitcher Brett Vasquez (JR/Baytown, Texas), who was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Year. Other all-conference winners returning include Matthew Klar (JR/San Antonio, Texas), Alec Martinez (SR/Corpus Christi, Texas), Jacob Mitchell (NA/Harker Heights, Texas) and Ram Maldonado (SR/McAllen, Texas). Maldonado and Mitchell also received Gold Glove honors in 2021.
Head Coach Bryan Aughney, the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2021, began his fifth season in 2021-2022. His overall record at OLLU is 105-82, and his conference record is 107-55. Aughney welcomes a new coaching staff featuring Matt Piker, Chris Casias, Ryan Chapa and Ryan Reyes. Father Cristopher Robinson will return as the team’s chaplain for his eighth season.
LSUS ranked 10th nationally in the NAIA Baseball Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll released Nov. 3. Over the last decade, the Pilots have won either the conference regular-season or postseason title each year, including 8-of-10 conference tournaments. No championship was played in 2020. The Saints received 42 votes in the preseason poll.
Voting was conducted by the head coaches at the conference. The poll results are below, with points calculated through a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 format.
Texas A&M University – Texarkana follows as the third pick with 88 points, followed by LSU-Alexandria with 83 points, conference newcomer Louisiana Christian University with 75 points, the University of Houston-Victoria with 63 points, Xavier University of Louisiana with 60 points, the University of the Southwest with 59 points, Jarvis Christian College with 57 points, Huston-Tillotson University with 24 points, Wiley College with 23 points and Texas College with 16 points. All teams played in the 2021 season due to COVID-19 precautions, except for Huston-Tillotson, Texas College and Wiley.