SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 22, 2024) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) baseball team launches its 10th season this Friday, with Head Coach Matt Piker leading the way for the Saints.

2023 recap

The Saints enjoyed their fourth consecutive 30+ wins season in 2023 (2019: 31-24/2020 – Covid Year/2021: 34-19/2022: 31-24). The team marked a 30-20 record for Piker's first year as head coach. OLLU made it to the semifinal round of the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) postseason, but their accomplishments in the classroom are more important to Piker.

"We had another year with our GPA above 3.0, and we graduated everyone who should have graduated. In our program, that's the biggest metric for success and failure: do these men leave OLLU with a degree that says Our Lady of the Lake University."

Expectations

The team's expectation for 2024 is to play "our brand of baseball," Piker said. According to Piker, the team plays hard, "stays in the fight" and never really gets out of the ballgame. 

Schedule overview (parenthesis indicates all-time record)

The Saints open their schedule Jan. 26-27 at home against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (8-13). The following week, Feb. 2-3, the Saints welcome Wayland Baptist University (3-2) for two doubleheaders, and Feb. 9-10, the Saints host Arlington Baptist University. They'll play one game at NCAA D2 St. Mary's University (2-11) on Feb. 13 and then kick off their conference schedule on the road against the University of the Southwest (USW) (22-8) Feb. 16-17.

The Saints' other nonconference matchups include St. Mary's University on Feb. 28, Texas Wesleyan University (4-3) on March 5 and Ottawa University (1-0) on April 6-7.

Conference overview/schedule

The Saints have been picked to finish No. 5 in the RRAC Preseason Poll released last week. LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) is first, followed by LSU-Alexandria (LSUA), Louisiana Christian University (LCU), the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) and OLLU. No. 6 is Texas A&M University – Texarkana (TAMUT), followed by USW, Jarvis Christian University (JCU), Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) and Texas College (TC). 

After the USW series in mid-February, the Saints will host UHV (25-15)  Feb. 23-24, followed by TC (26-2) on March 1-2. They will travel to LSUS (10-21) on March 8-9 and TAMUT (13-13) on March 15-16. OLLU returns home March 22-23 vs. LCU (3-3), JCU (16-14) March 29-30, LSUA (12-17) April 13-14, HTU (19-3) April 19-20. They will close out the regular season at XULA (6-1) April 26-27.

Seniors

Six will finish out their collegiate careers at OLLU this season. They include Development Team member Joseph Medina, and Christopher Perez, Caimyn Holiday, D'Artagnan Perez-Padron, Samuel Brown and Chase Dunn. This is Medina's first year as part of the baseball program. Perez is in his third year as a Saint. Holiday joined the team last year after transferring from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He is pursuing a Master of Science in Business Analytics. He earned All-Conference Second-Team honors and is the season record holder in total runs with 55. After transferring from Texas Southern University, Perez-Padron is also in his third year with the Saints. Brown is in his second year with the program. Dunn joined the team last year after transferring from Carl Albert State College.

Returners

Returners include Kobey Allison, Nicholas Alonzo, Vincent Banda, Devin Benavides, Brandon Betancourt, Criztian Delgado, Donovan Gamez, Aiden Gonzalez, Jack Kalisky, Christian Martinez, Johnmichael Martinez, Roman Rodriguez, Hector Rogerio III, Matthew Sanchez, Gabriel Sandoval, Anthony Valle, Jimmy Valle and Diego Zuniga. 

Kalisky had a fantastic year as a freshman last year. He received RRAC All-Conference Second-Team honors and Freshman of the Year recognition. Kalisky set the all-time record in batting average at .388 and slugging percentage at .721. He is the season record holder in home runs with 13 and RBIs with 73.

Newcomers

Additions to the team this year are Brett Atkinson, Noah De La Riva, Jake Dufner, Benjamyn Hovda, Austin Mitchell, Nicholas Muniz, Leo Parra, Christian Perez, Esai Puente, Alejandro Rodriguez, Chris Rodriguez and Jovanni Saenz.

Development Team

The squad for the Development Team includes Franco Aguilar, Kaden Allison, Joshua Arzola, Eden Barrera, Dominique Boggs, Michael Brown Jr., Colton Byars, Jake Cruz, Noah Davila, Davis Duhon, Bobby Garcia, Juan Garcia, Rowen Garcia, Ethan Garza, Javier Hinojosa, Alejandro Huerta, Aydan Lopez, Joseph Medina, Reggie Navaira, Wyatt Pevoto, Francisco Santoy Jr., Jacoby Turner and Adrian Vasquez. The team will play St. Edward's University at home on Feb. 7 and in Austin on March 6. They'll match up with Schreiner University on Feb. 14 at home and in Kerrville on March 20. The team will play TX Reds PG at home on March 27 and April 17.

Staff

Ryan Chapa returns as the full-time assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Piker said, "He makes my life a lot easier. The growth and strides he's made as a coach and professional in the last 12 months are exponential." 

Adrian Gonzalez Jr. returns as an assistant coach, and he will be joined by Noah Rodriguez. Joshua Mendez will be a volunteer assistant, and Fr. Cristopher Robinson returns for his 10th year as chaplain. 

Fan expectations

Saints fans will be greeted with numerous fresh faces on the team that will play 70 percent of their games at home at Missions Baseball Academy. Piker said, "The atmosphere at MBA is very special. I think it's because most of our roster is within four to five hours away. I think another large piece is we play an exciting brand of baseball."

Admission charge to home games is $10. OLLU faculty, staff, and students receive free admission with a valid university ID. The Saints home games will be live-streamed on the OLLU Saints Network. 

Hear from Head Coach Matt Piker as he discusses the 2024 season