(RV)/#15 Baseball heading to Fort Worth for pair of doubleheaders

The first two weeks of the season have been a dream start for the UHV baseball team.

The Jaguars (6-1) broke into the season's first NAIA Ball Media Poll at No. 15 this week following a 3-1 week against No. 13 Mid-America Christian and No. 14 Central Methodist. On top of that, Jonathan Jones earned Red River Athletic Conference and NAIA Ball National Pitcher of the Week honors, marking back-to-back weeks for a UHV player to sweep the awards with Brady Parker doing it in the first week.

"I'm very proud of they way we've handled every game early on," said head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "They've blocked out the noise. We've just got to stay hungry. We're finally getting some recognition, but that's not our goal. Our goal is to take every game one pitch at a time and ultimately, the World Series. It doesn't stop here."

Now, UHV will face its first road test with a trip to Sycamore Park in Fort Worth to play Midland (Neb.) and Texas Wesleyan (7-0) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The Warriors (33-19 in 2024) were picked fourth in the GPAC and open their season this weekend against the Rams and Jaguars. Texas Wesleyan was ranked No. 25 in this week's NAIA Ball Media Poll.

Saturday will be the first-ever meetings between UHV and Midland. The Jaguars and Rams have met 30 times with Texas Wesleyan holding a 17-13 edge in the all-time series after taking a midweek game last year. UHV eliminated the Rams from the 2023 NAIA Opening Round.

"Midland and Texas Wesleyan are both great teams," Stavinoha said. "Both won over 30 games last year and had very successful seasons, and have great coaching staffs on both ends. Texas Wesleyan is always a fun test. They've got a great offense and great pitching staff. We've got to stay hungry playing these good teams early on."

UHV enters the weekend with the No. 16-ranked pitching staff in the country with an ERA of 3.35.

Jones leads the starting rotation with a 0.75 ERA. Parker ranks eighth nationally with 17 strikeouts. Combined, UHV's starting pitchers have thrown 43 of 51 innings with three complete games through seven games this season. Jones and Mason Longoria have each notched two wins. Julian Garcia has a win, a save and 12 strikeouts this season.

Last weekend, the Jaguars limited Central Methodist's offense, which was averaging 12 runs per game at the time, to just one run over 14 innings.

"Baseball starts with pitching," Stavinoha said. "You don't start anything until the umpire says, 'Play ball!' Then the ball is in the pitcher's hands. So it starts there with pitching and defense."

The Jaguars' offense has scored 43 runs over the first two weeks of the season.

But Stavinoha is proud of how his team has found multiple ways to win. Whether using extra-base hits and home runs like against Wiley in the season-openers, or playing small ball to down Central Methodist, UHV has been a tough out on its first three opponents this season.

Cristian Garcia has led the offense with a .526 average, .842 slugging, three doubles, a home run and seven RBIs. Hal Perez shares the team lead with Garcia in RBIs. Garcia, Perez and Terry Burrel III have all homered this season.

Rafael Gutierrez is the lone Jaguar on a hitting streak entering the weekend with hits in his last three games for UHV.

"One thing we've done really well so far this season is make it hard for opponents to strike us out," Stavinoha said. "We're putting the ball in play and making things happen. "We get guys on, draw walks, get hit by a pitch, singles, doubles, whatever it is. We have the ability with most of our guys to run the bases and we put pressure on teams with our speed. Then, when a bunt is called, we can get it down or we hit and run. If we can keep doing that this weekend, we've got a good chance to win some more baseball games."