SAN ANTONIO (May 2, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) baseball team will compete in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championship tournament from May 5-8 in Sterlington, La. LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) will host the event at the Sterlington Sports Complex in Sterlington, La.

The Saints earned the third seed in the tournament after going 20-9 in RRAC play. They will battle No. 6-seed University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) on Friday at 1 p.m. LSUS took the first seed with a solid 42-6 overall record and 27-3 RRAC mark. The Pilots have won 23 games in a row. Louisiana Christian University (LCU) is the second seed at 22-8 in conference, followed by OLLU at 20-9, LSU-Alexandria (LSUA) at 19-10, Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) at 17-12, UHV at 16-13, Jarvis Christian University (JCU) at 15-15 and the University of the Southwest (USW) at 11-19.

The first games will be played on May 5 and are listed below. The tournament page can be found at https://www.redriverconference.com/22/6/2023-rrac-baseball-championship.

Game 1: No. 4 LSUA vs. No. 5 TAMUT, 1 p.m.

Game 2: No. 3 OLLU vs. No. 6 UHV, 1 p.m.

Game 3: No. 2 LCU vs. No. 7 JCU, 5 p.m.

Game 4: No. 1 LSUS vs. No. 8 USW, 5 p.m.

OLLU finished the regular season with a seven-game winning streak, leading them to a 29-18 overall record. The Saints' schedule before conference play started in February was packed with quality competition. OLLU matched up against two top-25 ranked teams in the first two weeks. Following tough series losses against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and Central Methodist University, the Saints won six straight contests, including the opening of conference play against the UHV. The Saints took the series against UHV and totaled 57 runs in a three-game series over Texas College later that week.

OLLU carried the momentum into a three-game series against formidable LSU-Shreveport. They rallied to win two games and take the series over the Pilots. The month of March was a rollercoaster of multiple streaks and the Saints finished at 9-7 as they entered April. The team finished strong in the final month by going 9-3 and ending the regular season on a seven-game winning streak.

First-year Head Coach Matt Piker said, "I'm really excited about the conference tournament. We put ourselves in the best position possible coming into the postseason. This is four years in a row that we are the third seed or higher heading into the tournament. I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish during the regular season. The postseason is a new start and all about getting hot at the right time. I'm excited to see what we can do this weekend." Piker was aided by former player Assistant Coach Ryan Chapa as they led the team to just shy of 30 victories.

The season was filled with plenty of crazy moments, including an inside the park grand slam from Francisco Martinez in the last series of the regular season against the University of the Southwest. Freshman Jackson Kalisky led the Saints with 59 hits and a .381 batting average. Kalisky also smashed 12 home runs (tying the OLLU record) and tallied 68 RBIs (an OLLU record). Jacob Montejano had a team-leading .475 on-base percentage. Tyler Vivier was patient at the plate with 27 walks and Caimyn Holiday racked up 11 stolen bases. The Saints ranked first in conference with 149 walks.

Alec Martinez had a dominant year on the mound with a 2.20 ERA. He averaged 8.48 strikeouts per nine innings. Chase Dunn was solid in relief with 24 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched. Dunn and Devin Benavides both had two saves. Joshua Mendez led the rotation with 62 strikeouts and had two complete games.