KINGSVILLE – Head Coach Michael Salinas was announced as the newest Athletic Director of Texas A&M-Kingsville athletics on Tuesday.

“Coach Salinas has demonstrated a singular commitment to competitive excellence and student success inside the classroom, while honoring the tremendous legacy and tradition associated with Javelina Athletics,” said University President Dr. Robert Vela. “He is a leader of the highest integrity, and I am confident that, just as he transformed our football program, he will elevate Javelina Athletics to the next level.”

Salinas served as Interim Athletic Director after former Athletic Director Steve Roach transitioned to Elon University. Salinas will step down as the Head Coach of the Javelinas football program, Defensive Coordinator Jamison Bisch will step in as Interim Head Coach effective immediately.

“I want to thank Dr. Vela for the opportunity to be able to lead the athletic program here,” Salinas said. “I look forward to the opportunity to serve our coaches and student athletes at Texas A&M-Kingsville.”

Salinas was hired in 2019 as head football coach and instantly made a lasting impact on the Javelina football program. Compiling a 26-19 record in his six seasons with the Javelinas, Salinas has coached numerous all-conference players, including 2022 AFCA-first team All American Amos Coleman. Salinas also has had three-straight seven-win seasons, a feat that had not been achieved at Texas A&M-Kingsville since the 2004 season.

Before his coaching career started, Salinas was a three-year letterwinner for the Javelina football program from 1995 to 1999. He was part of three LSC Championship and two West Region Championship teams under Ron Harms.

Coach Bisch came to Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2023 by way of Eastern New Mexico University. Since his arrival, the Javelinas have had one of the top defenses in the Lone Star Conference. Leading the conference in rushing defense in 2023 and finishing second in that statistic in the 2024 season.

Salinas will begin his tenure as Executive Director of Athletics effective immediately.

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SAN ANGELO – The bracket is set and the Angelo State baseball team is ready for the fifth appearance in the Division II College World Series in program history at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

The Rams earned the fifth seed in the tournament and will take on No. 4 Southern New Hampshire in game three of the tournament on Sunday, June 5, at 12:30 p.m. CST. The Rams and Penmen are the only returning teams from last year’s tournament. North Greenville earned the top seed followed by Point Loma as the two-seed, No. 3 Southern Arkansas, No. 6 Rollins, No. 7 Illinois Springfield, and No. 8 West Chester.

This will be the first meeting between the Penmen and the Rams.

The Penmen advanced to Cary out of the East Region, defeating Molloy for their second straight regional title. SNHU is 46-10 overall on the season and went 21-3 in the Northeast-10 conference before going on to claim the conferment tournament title.

SNHU holds the sixth-best team ERA in the country at 3.46 and has allowed the 12^th fewest hits per nine innings at 7.96. Angus McCloskey is the top starter for the Penmen, holding a 9-1 overall record in 12 starts. He has a 2.52 ERA through 71 1/3 innings while striking out 81 batters. Josh Roberge is next with a 3.19 ERA and 95 strikeouts while going 9-4 on the season.

At the plate, the Penmen are led by Nick Schwartz who has a .406 batting average along with 44 RBIs and nine home runs. Sam Henrie has a team-high 53 RBIs while batting .335 on the year. The Penmen have stolen 98 bases on the season with Danniel Rivera leading the way with 32 stolen bases.

The Rams have had one of their most successful seasons to date, collecting 50 wins while securing the Lone Star Conference regular-season title, the LSC tournament title, and the South Central Regional Championship.

ASU finished 38-10 in conference play to earn the top seed in the conference tournament before sweeping the competition to earn the fifth tournament championship in program history. With two wins over West Texas A&M in the process, the Rams earned the No. 1-seed in the South Central Regional, hosting MSU Denver and Texas A&M – Kingsville in section A of the regional. After a win over the Roadrunners, the Rams took two of three games against the Javelinas to advance to supers. ASU fell in game one against Colorado Mesa before bouncing back to win two games to punch their ticket to Cary.

This is the second time in program history the Rams have advanced to the college world series in back-to-back years. ASU also made consecutive appearances in 2015 and 2016.

The Rams have scored more runs than any other team in the country with 629 runs on the season. Their average of 10.7 runs per game also leads Division II.

ASU is third in DII in batting average (.362), has also recorded the second-most hits (697), and ranks first in doubles with 162.

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RICHARDSON, Texas – The Lone Star Conference has released its 2022 football conference schedule, which features a 10-team, nine-game single round robin format.

The slate has LSC games predominantly in weeks 3-11, with two league contests in week two.  The first full week of league play will take place on October 1.

The LSC welcomes Central Washington, Simon Fraser, and Western Oregon as affiliate members in football in 2022.  The trio joins Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT Permian Basin, West Texas A&M, and Western New Mexico for the 10-team conference in 2022.

In 2021, Midwestern State claimed the LSC football title for the fourth time, while Angelo State and Central Washington were selected for the NCAA Division II Football Championship.

The schedule is below:

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SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State women’s basketball team, returning to action after a two-week layoff due to game postponements, dominated Midwestern State, 98-72, to pick up their first conference win of the season.

The win marks the Rambelles’ first home conference win since February 20, 2020, against Texas A&M-Kingsville; it is also the first conference win for head coach Alesha Ellis.

The 98 points for the Rambelles is the most points scored in a game since December 21, 2019, when the Rambelles put 99 points past Cameron on that day. The 98 points is also tied for the fourth-most points scored by an LSC team this season.

The Rambelles dominated in all facets of the game: they shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field, including shooting 57.9 percent in the second quarter and 75 percent in the fourth quarter. They made 39 field goals on the night, the most any LSC school has made in a single game this season and assisted 28 times in this game, also a conference-best this season.

The Rambelles also out-rebounded the Mustangs 41-28, the fewest the Rambelles have allowed in a game this season; the Rambelles forced the Mustangs into 25 turnovers, recording a season-high 19 steals in the process.

The largest lead for the Mustangs was seven points with under a minute left in the first quarter; the Rambelles would then go on a 20-4 run until the 4:13 mark in the second quarter to secure a nine-point lead, a lead that they kept building on for the rest of the game.

Seven Rambelles scored in double-digits on the evening, led by Blakely Gerber’s 17 points. The Wayland Baptist transfer was perfect from two-point range in seven attempts, also adding in five assists and three steals.

Sawyer Lloyd and Madeline Stephens both scored 16 points, with Stephens recording her second double-double on the season, grabbing 11 rebounds. Lloyd assisted a game-high eight times, also recording six steals and four rebounds.

Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant shot 7-8 from the field, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Payton Brown, Ashlynn Sharp, and Samantha Rocha scored ten points apiece; Brown assisted seven times while Sharp recorded four steals and Rocha grabbed seven rebounds.

All 11 players dressed for the Rambelles ended up seeing action as well, with Brighton Adams and Neely Woodscoring three and two points, respectively, while Kyla Cobb and Taylor Moravcik also played for the Rambelles on the evening.

The Rambelles improve to 4-9 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. They return to action on Saturday against Texas Woman’s, with that game scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

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WICHITA FALLS – A record-shattering second half for the No. 3 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team helped the Lions cruise to an 81-35 win over the Midwestern State Mustangs at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night and move to 10-0 on the season.
 
Midwestern State was held to just seven points in the second half, which is the least amount of points allowed by the Lions in a half under coach Jason Burton. The one point allowed in the fourth quarter is the lowest mark since the NCAA implemented quarters in women’s basketball in 2015-16. The Mustangs were held without a field goal in a quarter for the first time in program history.
 
The Mustangs, who fall to 5-4, did not make a field goal in the last 16 minutes and 50 seconds, scoring just two points in that stretch. The Lions’ margin of victory of 46 points is the most by either team in Wichita Falls in the 50 meetings between the two teams.
 
A&M-Commerce fell down 4-2 in the first two minutes of the game, but responded by scoring the next 11 points in a span of three minutes. Chania Wright (DeSoto) had four of the 11 points. The Lions held Midwestern State to shoot 0 for 5 in that stretch.
 
Mia Deck (Frisco – Lone Star) knocked down a three pointer with 2:48 to go in the first quarter to give the Lions their largest lead of the first half, 18-8. Midwestern State cut into the Lion lead by holding them scoreless for the next two minutes and trailed 20-14 at the end of the first half.
 
The Lions were held without a point for the first three and a half minutes in the second quarter. The Mustangs capitalized and cut it to 20-18. A jumper by Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) with 4:55 to go in the quarter was A&M-Commerce’s first made field goal of the second quarter, giving the Lions a 23-20 lead.
 
Midwestern State stayed within one possession of the Lions for most of the second quarter and took its first lead of the half on a layup by Frances King at the 2:55 mark at 26-25. Robinson regained the lead for the Lions with an and-one. The Lions closed out the first half with a mini 4-0 run on jumpers by Wright and DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) to lead 32-28 at the half.
 
Laila Lawrence (Lewisville) was halfway towards a double-double in the first half with eight points and six rebounds. She also had 2 steals.
 
The Lions started the third quarter on a 6-0 run to match their largest lead of the game at 38-28. Lawrence gave the Lions a 48-33 lead with 4:03 to go in the third quarter, which was their largest lead up to that points. A&M-Commerce held the Mustangs without a made basket for six minutes and 50 seconds during the third quarter. Yasmine Sifaoui ended the Mustangs’ scoring drought with a free throw.
 
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lions led by 53-34. The Mustangs were held to shoot 2 for 15 from the field in the third quarter and made one of their two free throw attempts, scoring one point in the last seven minutes of the third quarter.
 
The scoring drought for the Mustangs extended into the fourth quarter. They were held to a point in the quarter. A&M-Commerce scored 28 in the quarter.
 
Lawrence and Kernal nearly missed double doubles. Lawrence totaled 19 points on 8 for 16 shooting as well as nine rebounds and two blocks. Kernal grabbed 13 rebounds and scored nine points, she also had three assists.
 
Robinson led the team in scoring with 18, she also tallied three assists. Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) scored seven points in the fourth quarter, while Wright scored six in the game.
 
Ravae Payne (Pearland) recorded four points and two rebounds. Deck scored six, while Victoria Hinton (Potomac, Va.) totaled four points and four rebounds.
 
No Midwestern State player had more than six points in the game. The two teams meet again in two weeks in Commerce to open Lone Star Conference play on Friday, December 31 at 2 p.m.

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WICHITA FALLS – UT Tyler exploded for 43 second-half points to negate a halftime deficit and move to 7-0 for the first time in program history with a 75-63 win over Midwestern State on Monday night in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The non-conference win over the Mustangs betters the 6-0 start to the season for the 2017-18 UT Tyler team, establishing the best start in UT Tyler men’s basketball history for the 2021-22 Patriots. Graduate student Eysan Wiley led the charge back from a 36-32 Midwestern State first-half advantage with 18 second-half points, connecting on 5-of-6 from the field in the half alone in route to 22 points for the game.

The Patriots connected on 13-of-27 from the field in the final 20 minutes, and held Midwestern State to 0-for-14 from beyond the three-point line in the second half while continually pushing forward with steady offense. UT Tyler scored the first two baskets of the second half on jumpers from Micah Fuller and Milan Szabo, the second of which from Szabo knotted the game up at 36-36 with 18:35 left in the game.

Another dunk from Szabo and a successful and-one opportunity for Fuller capped off the seven unanswered for UT Tyler out of the halftime break and established a 41-36 lead for the Patriots. Midwestern State settled in after the hot second-half start for the Patriots and kept the deficit to around a one-possession ball game before Eysan began his second-half onslaught of scoring at the 12:48 mark.

Eysan changed the course of the remaining of the contest at that point with a jump-shot make and then three-consecutive made three-point buckets to break open the game at 57-46 with 10:28 left on the clock. That turning point allowed UT Tyler to control the tempo for the remainder of the contest with the lead firmly in tact, and led by as many as 13 on three different occasions in the final 10 minutes of play.

Midwestern State narrowed the margin to just seven with 1:14 remaining, but were eventually held at a comfortable distance thanks to 14 free-throw makes in the second half by the Patriots.

Szabo added 14 points and nine rebounds to help compliment the solid outing from Wiley, who’s 22-point total on Monday night is the second time the graduate transfer has gone for 20 or more points this season. Szabo has now reached double-digit scoring totals in three out of his last four games and has totaled nine rebounds in each of the last two wins for the Patriots.

Senior Da’Zhon Wyche scored 10 points to follow up consecutive 19-point outings against Mississippi College and Dallas Baptist in the last two Patriot victories.

UT Tyler finished the game 25-of-53 (47.2 percent) from the field and went 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) from behind the three-point line. The Patriots won the rebounding battle for the sixth time in seven games this season, finishing with 40 while Midwestern State had 33.

The Patriots will return home with their undefeated 7-0 record on Thursday of this week to begin a two-game home stand. Thursday’s game is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against UAFS and Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tip against Oklahoma Christian.

Thursday’s game against UAFS will consistent of a toy drive hosted by the UT Tyler Police Department. The UT Tyler Police Department is asking that attendees please bring a new unwrapped toy for donation. Each toy brought to the women’s or men’s game will equal one free entry into that night’s contests. Only new and unwrapped toys will be accepted.

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SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State football team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II National Championship on Saturday, defeating No. 21 Nebraska – Kearney 20-7 at LeGrand Stadium at 1^st Community Credit Union Field.
 
With the victory, the Rams have now won seven games in a row, setting a new consecutive win streak in the Division II era as they improve to 11-2 overall on the season.
 
After a scoreless quarter and a half of play, the Rams got on the board first as Alfred Grear took off for a 63-yard touchdown run with 7:48 to play in the first half. Grear finished as the leading rusher in the game, totaling 152 yards rushing while averaging 9.5 yards per carry.
 
Asa Fuller finished the second quarter with two field goals, hitting one from 24 yards and another from 45 yards with time expiring as the Rams took a 13-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
ASU defense held the fifth-best rushing offense in the country to 117 yards and the 10^th best offense to only 203 yards of total offense. UNK’s quarterback TJ Davis ended with 86 yards passing and 12 yards rushing on the day.
 
Hunter Kyle was the leading tackler for the Rams with nine tackles on the day while Daron Allman finished with six tackles and 2.5 sacks while Weston Bauer collected seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, and a sack.
 
Angelo State extended their lead in the third quarter as the Rams drove 75 yards on nine plays before Zach Bronkhorst completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Dagen Dunham to go up 20-0.
 
Bronkhorst finished with 172 yards on 15-of-30 attempts while adding 21 yards on the ground. CJ Odom carried the ball for 48 yards on the ground while Kel Williams was the top receiver for ASU with three catches for 71 yards.
 
After an interception gave UNK the ball deep in ASU territory, the Lopers scored their lone touchdown of the game off a five-yard run with 6:21 to go in the third quarter.
 
UNK nearly scored again in the fourth before ASU’s defense stepped up once again, forcing a turnover on days to seal the win.
 
G’Karri McCoy, Leddy French II, and Darrick Dickerson Jr., each finished with five tackles while Josh Quinton added four tackles with 1.5 tackles for a loss.
 
The Rams will travel for the quarterfinal round as they take on top-seeded Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Dec. 4, with a kickoff time to be announced.

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COMMERCE – A fast start and a disciplined finish allowed UT Tyler to move to 5-0 for the first time since 2017-18 on Saturday afternoon thanks to a 72-64 win over Mississippi College to close out play in the 2021 Lion Hoopsgiving.

The Patriots finish 2-0 in the event hosted by Texas A&M-Commerce over the weekend, and used 17 first half points from senior Da’Zhon Wyche to pad a 41-28 halftime lead. Mississipi College made it a one-possession ballgame with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, but couldn’t overcome the hot start from Wyche and company to allow UT Tyler to pull away in the final minutes.

Wyche connected on all five of his three-point attempts in the first half to help spur a 19-6 run midway through the first 20 minutes of play that opened up a 27-14 advantage for UT Tyler with 6:52 remaining in the half. The Patriots led by as many as 15 in the opening half, a margin which would stand as their largest lead of the game, after Wyche’s fifth three-point bucket of the half connected with 33 seconds left before the halftime break.

The 41-28 halftime margin turned out to be much-needed as Mississippi College scored seven straight points coming out of the half and effectively erased the UT Tyler lead, trailing just 49-48 with 11:08 remaining in the game.

The 20-8 run for the Choctaws in the first 10 minutes of the second half woke the Patriots up quickly as they scored six straight unanswered points from that point and never let the lead slip back to less than five for the remainder of the game. The Patriots led by 10 twice in the final eight minutes, and connected on all seven of their free throw attempts in the second half.

Wyche finished with 19 for the game, leading all Patriot scorers, while Milan Szabo, Micah Fuller and Eysan Wiley all reached double-digit offensive figures. Szabo finished 6-of-8 from the field for 12 points while Wiley and Fuller each totaled 11 points on the afternoon.

UT Tyler finished with a team shooting percentage north of 50 percent for the fourth time in five games so far in 2021-22, knocking down 26-of-51 attempts (51.0 percent) from the field. Wyche was the lone Patriot to convert on a three-point opportunity for the contest, but the UT Tyler defense allowed just three makes from three-point range to the opposition.

Both sides had 28 rebounds on the day, as Wiley led all rebounders in the affair with seven boards.

UT Tyler will now square off with Lone Star Conference opponents for the remainder of their schedule, however the first four games against Dallas Baptist, Midwestern State, UAFS and Oklahoma Christian will be contested as non-conference games. The first of those two games against DBU and Midwestern State will take place on Dec. 11^th and Dec. 13^th on the road, while the latter two will occur on Dec. 13^th and 16^th inside the Herrington Patriot Center.

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SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State football team jumped up in the NCAA Division II Regional Rankings on Monday, landing at No. 2 in Super Region Four.
 
The Rams held the fifth spot heading into their game against Texas A&M – Commerce, winning 30-3 to jump three spots in the rankings. The top seven teams at the end of the season will advance to the playoffs with the two through four spots hosting in the first round.
 
Colorado School of Mines holds the No. 1 spot while Augustana (SD) sits at No. 3 followed by Bemidji State at No. 4. Western Colorado, Central Washington, and Minnesota Duluth round out the top seven.

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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Angelo State football team overcame adversity on the road, climbing back late against Central Washington to defeat the Wildcats 14-9 with a last-minute touchdown on Saturday night in Tomlinson Stadium.

With the win, the Rams improve to 3-1 overall on the season while Central Washington drops to 2-2.

Down 9-7, Nathaniel Omayebu III collected the ball one yard out of the end zone before pushing his way through for a score to take the lead with 48 seconds remaining in the ball game.

Angelo State’s defense controlled the game throughout the night, holding the Wildcats out of the end zone while allowing only 202 total yards off offense including 88 yards on the ground. The Rams have yet to give up a 100-yards rushing in their first four games of the season.

After a scoreless first quarter of play, the Wildcats got on the board first, hitting a 21-yard field goal to go up 3-0 after the Rams held CWU on a goal-line stand.

Late in the second quarter, the Rams drove 55 yards on nine plays to score their first touchdown of the night as Austin Landry took a direct snap before running five yards to give the Rams their first lead of the night.

Omayebu led the Rams rushing on the night, collecting 100 yards off 24 attempts with a score. Kason Phillips shared the load in his second game for ASU, rushing for 36 yards while Landry finished with 13 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams stepped up again on defense in the third quarter, forcing three straight incompletions to inside the 12-yard line as the Wildcats kicked another field goal to make it a one-point game.

In his first ASU start, Hagen Garvin finished with nine completions for 130 yards with no interceptions while Landry finished with a team-high 38 receiving yards off two catches. Kellen Pachot added three catches for 35 yards and Phillips added 23 yards receiving.

The Wildcats took the lead with their third field goal of the game, hitting a 40-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter of play.

In ASU’s final drive of the night, Garvin completed a 14-yard pass to Rasheen Green before connecting on a 31-yard pass to Pachot at Central Washington’s two-yard line to set up the game-winning score.

Central Washington threw a final hail marry attempt that was picked off by ASU’s Andrew Pitts to close out the game.

Josh Quinton led the Rams in total tackles with nine followed by Leddy French II with eight. Darrick Dickerson Jr.and Hunter Kyle each tallied seven tackles. Simon Maxey and Quinton each collected a sack while Devin Washington added an interception.

The Rams will return home next weekend as they welcome in Western New Mexico for a Lone Star Conference matchup on Saturday, Oct. 2 at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.

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