Baseball is a timeless sport, having endured as America's national pastime for 186 years and remaining one of the few athletic competitions not constrained by a game clock. Every team is allocated the same number of outs at the plate, and every swing has the potential to earn another opportunity. 
 
The story of the 2025 St. Edward's baseball team is one of a team that poured everything into its play up to the very last out, falling only an inch or two short of extending its season in an 8-7 loss to Angelo State in the NCAA Regionals.  
 
"That's been the mark of this team all year. We have an extremely gritty team full of players who love each other," St. Edward's head baseball coach Ryan Femath says. "At the end of the day, everyone here can look at each other and in the mirror and know they left it all out on the field. I'm proud of this team."
 
Starting pitcher KOBE JARAMILLO set the tone on opening day, shutting down No. 21-ranked West Texas A&M in brutally efficient fashion, breezing through eight innings in only 79 pitches, throwing 60 for strikes in the 4-0 win. 
 
Jaramillo transferred to St. Edward's after a year away from the game due to injuries. Jaramillo was working at home in Bishop, Texas, ready to put baseball behind him, when his former Texas A&M-Kingsville pitching coach Jeremy Flores, now at St. Edward's, called to convince Jaramillo he still had more innings left in his arm. 
 
"Just hearing his voice and him believing I could still play at a high level, I was like, 'okay, let's do it,'" Jaramillo told KVUE in a story that aired in early May.
 
"Hanging it up was something I didn't think he should do," Flores added. "I don't think you can put into words the type of impact he's had building our culture." 
 
Jaramillo produced an All-LSC First Team and All-Region season, anchoring a pitching staff that broke the team's single-season record for strikeouts (394). Jaramillo posted a 10-2 record with a 3.18 ERA and 93 strikeouts, defeating Lubbock Christian LSC Pitcher of the Year Ryan Markwardt in the LSC Tournament and NCAA Regional. GEORGE HETTRICK added 71 strikeouts in an All-LSC Third Team season, and JAKUB RAYFIELD added 51, closing the year with his strongest performances of the season.
 
St. Edward's pitching staff also received plenty of run support, setting new program single-season records with 466 runs and 421 RBI. 
 
CONNOR COX led the way with one of the best hitting seasons in program history, setting program records with 98 hits and 75 RBI, and a team-high 12 home runs. His 2025 season ranks second in total bases (156) and doubles (22), fifth in runs (63), and sixth in batting average (.419), earning him NCBWA All-American honors, All-Region honors, and All-LSC First Team recognition.
The production wasn't simply a matter of spectacular individual performances, though the Hilltoppers certainly had that. In its second season under Femath, St. Edward's completely bought into his approach to the game, leading the nation in walks with a school-record 353, stealing 102 bases, and executing 34 sacrifice bunts to manufacture runs across the entire lineup to supplement the 59 home runs it got from the top of its lineup. 
 
Leadoff hitter TRAVIS CHESTNUT epitomized the approach, hitting for power with 11 home runs while leading the team in walks (46) and breaking the program's single-season record for steals (40) and tying the record for runs (72) to earn All-LSC Third Team. 
 
Clean-up hitter MARCO BARRERA hit for power (eight home runs, 16 doubles), average (.364), and patience (33 walks) to join Hettrick and Chestnut on the All-LSC Third Team. He showcased his athleticism, dodging a tag at the plate on a squeeze bunt for a walk-off win against No. 5-ranked UT Tyler, and his grit with a gutsy performance through injury with a pinch-hitting, two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to help St. Edward's rally in its final game. 
 
LANCE LITTLE missed the first 20 games of the season, suppressing his raw numbers, but operated at an all-conference level once he regained his rhythm. He finished with a .376 batting average, four home runs, 40 RBI, and 36 runs scored, ending his career with the sixth-best career batting average (.377) and seventh-best on-base percentage (.491) in program history. 
 
CARLO FIGUEROA shook off the injuries that plagued his career and posted an impactful season, alternating between both middle infield positions, drawing 40 walks, and seemingly coming through in clutch situations whenever runners were on base, driving in 40 RBI and scoring 40 runs.
 
TREVOR SEBEK hit .278 and drew 43 walks with 26 RBI and 57 runs scored, including a walk-off bunt against Texas A&M International. DYLAN TATE hit .287 in his first year at the Hilltop, with five home runs, 32 RBI, 25 stolen bases, and 43 runs scored while making numerous plays with his arm, both from the outfield (eight assists) and on the mound as an emergency reliever (five strikeouts, one save, one win in four appearances), earning a win against Texas A&M International in one game, then a save in the very next.
 
The Hilltoppers got contributions and other great moments from across the roster. DIEGO SOLIS and NICHOLAS ANDERSON formed a solid 1-2 punch behind the plate, hitting .270 and .275 with 29 and 27 RBI, 22 and 21 runs, and four home runs each. JOSH GRAHAM made the most of late opportunities, delivering a clutch hit in the bottom of the ninth of St. Edward's clinching win over St. Mary's in the first round of the LSC Tournament, and executing the suicide squeeze to score the game's lone run in St. Edward's win over Lubbock Christian in the LSC Semifinal. 
 
MARLEY BERNAL and PARKER TENNILL were excellent out of the bullpen as the setup middle reliever and closer before injuries sidelined both and limited Tennill in his return, ending his season with 10 saves. BEN SMEDSHAMMER stepped up with critical performances against St. Mary's and Angelo State in the LSC Tournament. 
"This program has had success for a few decades now, and we're working to keep building on that momentum," Femath says. "We're going to continue to identify the most talented, high-character guys who fit this program. I'm proud of this group. They left the program in a better place, and the returners will learn from the fight this team displayed and the love for each other we played with." 
 
Baseball rosters come and go, but the characteristics that drive St. Edward's to success, like the game itself, are timeless.