The St. Edward's Hilltoppers enter the second phase of the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championships, ranked third in the region and no. 13 in the nation by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association.
St. Edward's is on a six-game winning streak and is also ranked no. 14 in the nation by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Yet, despite the accolades and standings, the Hilltoppers continue to approach each game as if their season was on the line.
"You never feel safe you're in the Regional until the NCAA rankings come out. Last year, we were seventh or eighth going into it, so we knocked two teams out," St. Edward's head baseball coach Bryan Faulds says. "We're going to go out and try and win every game. This week is also a good setup to prepare for the Regional with its double-elimination format."
St. Edward's got an early glimpse of itself playing without a sense of urgency in the fall and didn't like what it saw, coining a phrase that's driven the team ever since: Be Different.
"It means something different to each guy, but it's something that came up after a stretch of bad practices in the fall where we got kind of lazy," Faulds explains. "So, our whole thing was about returning to old-school ways of running everything out, playing with emotion, and doing it for the right reasons. Doing it for each other."
The team's strength is the depth of its roster, where players having quality seasons might have to make room and share time with players who take limited opportunities and run with them.
Freshman TREVOR SEBEK stepped in for an injured CARLO FIGUEROA, making the leadoff spot his own. JOSH GRAHAM and KYLER KERLIN have moved back and forth into the lineup according to the team's needs; MATTHEW GILES emerged midway through the season in right field when injuries opened playing time for him.
Most recently, RYAN FEDDERSEN started splitting time at the designated hitter spot with LUKE JOHNSON after an injury limited the latter, hitting .448 and delivering a three-run blast in the first playoff game against St. Mary's.
However, none of it works without a total buy-in from everyone. The heart of the lineup is just as capable of laying down a sacrifice bunt to move a teammate over as it is swinging for the fences. Everyday starters having stellar seasons accept substitutions to put more defense on the field or speed on the base paths, and the players entering for them thrive in those roles.
"Everyone keeps working. It's different. Guys are playing for each other, not just themselves," Fauls says. "It's nice to know you have options down the stretch. Everyone stays ready, knows their role, and plays unselfish baseball for all the right reasons."
Pitching puts St. Edward's in the conversation, where WESLEY GAFFORD and LUKE SHORT individually could anchor almost any pitching rotation in the country and together give the Hilltoppers more than a puncher's chance in any tournament format.
Short broke the single-season strikeouts record this season and currently has 121, leading the LSC. Gafford enters the postseason with identical numbers to his All-American season last year.
Behind them, JACK GRANACK is steady with big-game experience, and freshman JARED SCHAEFFER has emerged as a reliable fourth pitcher. Out of the bullpen, Faulds has confidence in turning to AUSTIN ESSEX, KEVIN SKWERES, JACK ENGELMANN, and even a few arms who've been out of the rotation.
"In a tournament format, pitching is what's going to get the job done," Faulds says. "We're confident in all the guys we have."
And if pitching puts St. Edward's in the conversation, power punctuates every talking point with exclamation marks. LANCE LITTLE, CULLEN AINSWORTH, DAVIS DREWEK, and LUKE JOHNSON have each posted double-digit home run seasons, combining for 48 and 214 RBIs out of the heart of the order. Freshman CONNOR COX and Feddersen join Little in giving the Hilltoppers three .400 hitters with a large sample size of at-bats.
Still, St. Edward's has had these elements in the past. If the Hilltoppers want to navigate the minefield that is the Lone Star Conference, where they took three of four games against Texas-Tyler, split with Lubbock Christian, and were swept by Angelo State in the regular season, it's going to take more.
If St. Edward's plans on winning its first Lone Star Conference Championship, it will require all those elements and something different.
