(RV)/#15 Baseball welcomes Southwest for RRAC-opening series

The UHV baseball team looks to continue its early season momentum.

The Jaguars (9-2) have picked up three ranked wins this season, were ranked No. 15 in the NAIA Ball Media Poll, and are coming off a 3-1 weekend against Midland (Neb.) and Texas Wesleyan, which was ranked No. 25 in the NAIA Ball poll.

Now, UHV takes that momentum into its Red River Athletic Conference-opening series at home against University of the Southwest (7-4). The three-game set kicks off with a 4 p.m. doubleheader at Riverside Stadium on Friday. The series concludes at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

"Non-conference has been great; we've done some good things and I'm proud of how the boys have answered against tough competition early on," said head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "We've learned a lot of how we like to play, how we can play and our ability to do different things. Moving forward to the start of conference, we couldn't be more excited to hop right into it and keep this momentum rolling."

The Jaguars saw another on of their own take home a weekly award from the RRAC after Terry Burrel III was named the RRAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, marking three straight weeks of recognition with Brady Parker and Jonathan Jones each earning Pitcher of the Week nods the previous two weeks.

The Houston native had a slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG) of .583/.688/1.083 with five RBIs, two doubles and two triples as the Jaguars swept Midland 11-4 and 16-2, and split with Texas Wesleyan with an 18-4 win in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader.

Burrel is one of 10 Jaguars hitting over .300. Offensively, UHV ranks second in the RRAC in batting average (.339) and runs scored (91). The 16 runs in Game 2 against Midland and 18 runs in Game 1 against Texas Wesleyan are the two-highest run productions for the Jaguars this season.

"When your team is winning baseball games, you're going to have individuals that have great performances," Stavinoha said. "Last week it was Terry having great ABs, hitting the ball wherever it's pitched and doing good things.

"But he's not the only guy. We've got it all over the lineup … where guys can have the ability to do great things, and get Player of the Week. We've just got to keep doing our thing."

The Jaguars probable starters for the week are Parker, Jones and Julian Garcia.

Combined, those three boast a 1.98 ERA and seven wins to lead UHV's pitching staff, which boasts a 3.58 ERA and ranks second in the RRAC. The Jaguars have won in each of Jones' three starts and both of Garcia's.

Over the weekend, the Jaguars saw four relief pitchers make their season debuts in Marcos Moreno, Matthew Mejia, Drew Bradbury and Ryan Rodriguez. Combined, the four let up just one run over five innings.

"We've got to get ahead and pound the zone," Stavinoha said. "When we let our guys work, it sets the tone. Then we score a couple of runs and make it hard for them to come back with that great pitching and defense."

UHV owns a 15-12 all-time series edge against the Mustangs after sweeping last year's series in Hobbs, New Mexico. The Jaguars are also 9-5 all-time at home against Southwest after taking two of three games the last time these teams met at Riverside.

"They're going to be scrappy," Stavinoha said. "They're a well-coached team that's going to put pressure on you and make you do different things. We've practiced for it, we've prepared for it and we've handled that already this season in different ways. If we can play our game – good, clean baseball – I think we should come out on top."