A Tourney of Two Cities: the 2025 Southland Conference Tournament Preview

By Andrew Riedell

Here we go! The second conference tournament of the college baseball season will be taking place this weekend, as the Southland Conference kicks off part one of a two weekend conference championship weekend taking place in two cities. The two hosting cities are Hammond, LA home of the Southeastern Lions, and Edinburg, TX, home of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. I will be covering the Hammond bracket this weekend, and in Edinburg, College Baseball Central will have Micah Beutell staffing that one. Coincidentally, all the teams in the Hammond Bracket are Louisiana-based teams and in the Edenburg Bracket, it is all Texas-based teams. Let's jump right into it!

Hammond Bracket:

1 Seed: Southeastern Lions (22-8 Conf Record)

The one seed is the Southeastern Lions, coming in at 37-14 this season. They won every conference series except one, early in the season to McNeese, whom they will get to play in this tournament. Coach Bobby Barbier in his second season has put this program back on the map with back to back winning seasons. This team is loaded with some of the best pitching in the country and sports a 3.58 team ERA led by one of the best pitchers in the conference, Brennan Stuprich. He also gets support from Lakin Polk, Truitt Webb, and Luke Lirette out of the bullpen. The bats for Southeastern have swung it really well too, led by Texas Tech transfer Ryan Brome and TJ Salvaggio, with their combined 25 home runs.

Key Hitters: Ryan Brome .355 12 HRs 36 RBIs TJ Salvaggio .324 13 HRs 45 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Brennan Stupiruch 2.65 ERA 9-4 105 Ks

4 Seed: Northwestern State Demons (19-11 Conf Record)

The four seed Northwestern State Demons come in at 33-19 overall this season, with a series win over UT-Rio Grande Valley and a midweek run rule victory over LSU. Coached by Chris Bertrand in his second season as the head coach, he has turned them around and has his team over .500 this season. Coach Bertrand has done it all, being an assistant coach over nearly every group of positions as well in his time. He has one of the best pitchers in the conference in Carter White, who's been used in the bullpen and now in the rotation. The Demons also have Adam Alexis and Wesley Marien in the bullpen, both with dominant numbers to help preserve Demon wins. For the bats, the Demons are led by Reese Lipoma and Rocco Gump, both of them hitting over .300 this season. Braden Benton leads the team in home runs this season with 10.

Key Hitters: Reese Lipoma .328 1 HR 29 RBIs 11 SBs Braden Benton .297 10 HRs 38 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Carter White 2.22 ERA 4-1 41 Ks, Wesley Marien 1.64 ERA 1-0 22 IP 23 Ks

5 Seed: McNeese Cowboys (19-11 Conf Record)

The McNeese Cowboys are the five seed after dropping their final series of the year to the four seed Demons. Coming in at 32-15, the Cowboys have taken series against Wichita State, Lamar, as well as midweek games against Houston and Louisiana-Lafayette. Led by Head Coach Justin Hill in his 12th year at the helm for the Cowboys, he will definitely garner some interests for some of the vacant head coaching jobs this summer. Led by two of the best hitters in the conference, Easton Dowell and Marcus Heusohn, who have been a key part to this team's success this year, and they will probably be a reason why this team succeeds in Hammond. Simon Larranaga leads the team in home runs though with 12. On the mound, they are led by Alexis Gravel, and in the bullpen, Sergio Lopez, who might also come out and start a game this weekend if needed.

Key Hitters: Easton Dowell .371 7 HRs 37 RBIs, Marcus Heusohn .335 3 HRs 32 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Alexis Gravel 4-2 3.06 ERA 67 Ks, Sergio Lopez 2.60 ERA 7-1

8 Seed: New Orleans Privateers (12-17 Conf Record)

I have seen this UNO team play twice against Tulane, and they are better than what their conference and overall record shows. Coached by Head Coach Dax Norris, he took over for Blake Dean after Dean departed three weeks before the season started. The Privateers come in with a 25-24 overall record, including series victories over Boston College, Nicholls, and winning the Pelican Cup vs Tulane. They are led by one of the favorites to win the Southland Player of the Year, Bryce Calloway, who has done it both as a hitter and closer out of the bullpen. Bryan Loriga has been a key contributor as well. On the mound, they are led by starter Grant Edwards and a strong bullpen consisting of Calloway and Nunez transfer Ira Austin, who came in and made an instant impact this season.

Key Hitters: Bryce Calloway .378 14 HRs 55 RBIs, Bryan Loriga .302 6 HRs 34 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Ira Austin 2.08 ERA 26 IP 28 Ks, Bryce Calloway 22 IP 3.27 ERA 8 SVs

Edinburg Bracket:

2 Seed: UT Rio Grande Valley (22-8 Conf Record)

In their first year in the Southland Conference, the UTRGV Vaqueros have found themselves in the top half of the conference, landing the top seed and hosting privilege for the conference tournament. They are led by Head Coach Derek Matlock, who in his 8th season with the team led them to a 33-16 record that included wins over Dallas Baptist, Lamar, and Louisiana-Lafayette. They are led by one of the leading choices for Southland Player of the Year, Armani Raygoza, who has had a ridiculous year, leading this team in almost every offensive category. Issac Lopez, Steven Lancia, and Jacob Sanchez are all having a great year as well. On the mound for them, their ace is Victor Loa, who has led this pitching staff all year to help put them in the good spot they enjoy today.

Key Hitters: Armani Raygoza .383 15 HRs 54 RBIs, Issac Lopez .349 6 HRs 38 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Victor Loa 3.02 ERA 5-1 51 Ks, Anthony Tejada 2.81 ERA 16 IP 15 Ks

3 Seed: Lamar Cardinals (20-10 Conf Record)

The Lamar Cardinals enter as the only 40-win team in the Southland, a record that includes wins over LA Tech, Rice, and Tulane. Coached by Will Davis in his ninth season with the program, he has put them in a pristine spot to either win the Southland Tournament or garner an NCAA At-Large bid for the Cardinals. They are led by my pick for the Southland Conference Player of the Year Award, Damian Ruiz, who has reached base in almost every game this season. I have also watched this team play in person, and he is fun to watch, along with the rest of this offense. I saw them play only in a midweek, so I wasn't able to see the starting rotation in person; but from watching their games online, they've been led by front runner for the Southland Pitcher of the Year award Riley Hunsaker, as well as Peyton Harvard. I believe this Lamar team is in a perfect spot to make a run.

Key Hitters: Damian Ruiz .395 45 RBIs 21 2Bs 14 SBs, Zane Spinn .323 5 HRs 49 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Riley Huunsaker 2.17 ERA 4-2 67 Ks, Peyton Harvard 2.81 ERA 7-2 76 Ks

6 Seed: Houston Christian Huskies (17-13 Conf Record)

The Houston Christian Huskies are the six seed, coming in 26-23 with wins over McNeese, Rice, and UTRGV. Coached by Clay Vanderlaan in his first season as the head coach, he has turned them around from last season, when they finished ninth in conference. They are led by Rhett Hendricks and Parker Edwards on the offensive side, as they respectively lead in home runs and RBIs for the Huskies. Parker Edwards is one of the top Huskies pitchers, with some nice bullpen help from Ben Norton and Nick Ferazzi.

Key Hitters: Rhett Hendricks .331 5 HRs 30 RBIs Jack Walker .324 26 RBIs 11 2B

Key Pitchers: Nick Ferazzi 3.48 ERA 19 Ks 20.2 IP Ben Norton 3.03 ERA 29.2 IP

7 Seed: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (12-18 Conf Record)

The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders come into the Southland tournament 20-29 overall, with wins against UCLA, Washington State, and Rice. They are coached by Scott Malone in his 18th season at the helm. Austin Russell and Jackson Smith are the leading hitters, while Zach Garcia and David Dean are the leading pitchers.

Key Hitters: Austin Russell .316 27 RBIs, Jackson Smith .292 6 HRs 22 RBIs

Key Pitchers: Zach Garcia 6-4 3.93 58 Ks David Dean 4.18 ERA 51.2 IP 24 Ks

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