ODESSA, Texas (January 22, 2026) – Coming off a 2025 season where The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team won 17 of its final 28 games and finished in ninth place in the Lone Star Conference, the Falcons are projected to again finish in ninth place according to the 2026 Lone Star Conference preseason poll. 

The Falcons enter the 2026 season looking to build on the momentum they ended last season with, in hopes of qualifying for the LSC Championship.

2025 was the first season for the Falcons under the direction of Head Coach Justin Phillips. UTPB finished 20-30 overall and 19-29 in the LSC, which was good for ninth place. After starting the year just 3-19, the Falcons went 17-11 after that to reach the 20-win mark. The Falcons did not lose a series in the month of April and lost just one of their final seven series of the season. In addition, they finished the year by winning 11 of their last 17 games and won at least two games in six out of their last seven series.

"Based on our finish last year, our expectation was to be placed exactly the same. However, based on the Fall we had, I do expect us to finish higher this year," said UTPB Head Coach Justin Phillips.

UT Tyler is the favorite to win its first Lone Star Conference baseball title according to the 2026 preseason poll, it was announced on Thursday (Jan. 22).

The preseason poll and preseason players of the year are voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.

UT Tyler totaled 603 points and collected 20 of the possible 42 first-place votes in the poll. Head coach Brent Porche's Patriots were 49-13 overall – a program record for wins in a single season – and 40-8 in league play last season. They captured their first NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional title, going a perfect 5-0 through the Regional and Super Regional. UT Tyler, which led the conference in pitching (3.69 ERA) last year, enters the season ranked No. 4 in the D2Baseball.com Top 25 Poll.

Defending league and LSC tournament champion Angelo State was picked as the runner-up with 599 points and also received 20 first-place votes. The Rams, who have won an LSC-best eight league crowns and raised the national championship trophy in 2023, went 48-10 overall and 39-7 in conference play last year. They reached the Super Regional. ASU led the league in hitting (.366 average) and fielding (.978) in 2025. The Rams are ranked No. 11 in the preseason national poll.

Lubbock Christian was the third-place selection with 510 points. The Chaps, who won the league title in 2024, went 34-23 overall and 30-18 in conference last season and reached the NCAA tournament. They also led the league with 89 home runs. LCU is receiving votes in the preseason national poll.

St. Edward's was selected in the fourth spot with 501 points. The Hilltoppers went 37-23 overall and 31-17 in conference play in 2025. They reached the LSC tournament title game and made the NCAA tournament.

Three-time LSC champion West Texas A&M was predicted to finish fifth with 474 points. St. Mary's (404 points) was the sixth-place selection, followed by six-time league champion Texas A&M-Kingsville (389 points) to round out what would be the potential seven teams to qualify for the LSC Championship. TAMUK received one first-place vote.

Eastern New Mexico was the eighth-place pick with 326 points, followed by UT Permian Basin (249 points) and Texas A&M International (246 points). TAMIU picked up the final first-place vote. New league member UT Dallas (243 points), Oklahoma Christian (181 points), Cameron (164 points) and Sul Ross State (67 points) rounded out the LSC's 14 baseball teams.

"Obviously this is the toughest conference in the country," said Coach Phillips. "We continue to see mid-major guys making the drop, the depth in this league is the real deal, and the conference is getting better and better every year. I expect teams to beat each other up, and our goal is to win every series at home, and win at least two games in each series on the road."

Additionally, 28 players – 14 position players and 14 pitchers – were selected for the LSC Baseball Preseason Players to Watch list. The student-athletes were nominated by their member institution.

Timmy LaChappa is a sophomore right-handed pitcher from Hemet, California. In his first collegiate season, LaChappa appeared in 14 games and made 12 starts for the Falcons. He was 3-5 with a 6.71 earned run average, and had four complete games with one shutout. LaChappa led all Falcon pitchers in ERA and complete games and was second on the team in innings pitched. Among his three wins in his first collegiate season, LaChappa secured two wins against nationally-ranked opponents. LaChappa earned his first-career win with a seven-inning complete game performance allowing just one run in a 14-1 victory at No. 23 West Texas A&M (Mar. 1). He again threw all seven innings and finished with a one-hit, complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win at home against No. 3 UT Tyler (Mar. 29). It was the fourth one-hitter in program history and the first since February 3, 2017, as LaChappa was named both the LSC Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA South Central Region Pitcher of the Week for his efforts. LaChappa was also named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month for March. LaChappa earned his third and final win of the season with another seven-inning complete game in a 10-6 win at home vs. Lubbock Christian (Apr. 26) in which he allowed just three earned runs.

"Timmy has real experience in this league, is continuing to get stronger, and is really beginning to learn and understand the game at a higher level," said Coach Phillips.

Gael Bernal is a junior middle infielder from El Paso, Texas. He is transferring to UTPB from New Mexico Highlands University, where he spent his first two collegiate seasons and won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Gold Glove Award in 2025. Bernal started 47 games at second base for the Cowboys in 2025 and posted a .956 fielding percentage, which was the best of any middle infielder in the conference. He did not commit a single error throughout the final 26 games of the season for the Cowboys. He also hit over .300 in each of his first two seasons, hitting .392 en route to being the Freshman of the Year at Highlands, and then hitting .340 with eight home runs as a sophomore.

"All Fall, Gael has been able to move position-to-position, has made the necessary adjustments from playing on turf field to our dirt field, and is a leader by example every day," said Coach Phillips.

The LSC baseball season begins as early as Jan. 30 (Friday). Due to being NCAA Division II provisional members, UTD and SRSU are not eligible for the LSC baseball tournament but are able to win the LSC regular season title and postseason awards.

The LSC baseball tournament's opening round is scheduled for May 1-3 (Friday-Sunday) at the site of the league's No. 2, 3 and 4 seed. The championship round is set for May 8-10 (Friday-Sunday) at the league's No. 1 seed. The NCAA Division II South Central Regional is scheduled for May 14-17 with the Super Regional following on May 21-23. The campus sites are TBD. The NCAA Division II Baseball Championship is set for May 29-June 6 at USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.

The Falcons will be at home to kick off the season on Friday (Jan. 30), hosting Angelo State at 2 p.m. to start a three-game series at Roden Field.

Coach Phillips concluded, "Honestly, we are really looking forward to playing a different opponent than ourselves. Our kids have put in a lot of hard work, and I believe we have gotten better, but to play against Angelo State to start the season, it will be interesting to see if we have indeed gotten better to where we can compete on that level. My expectations for this year are for the fans to see selfless baseball, a 'we before me' mentality, and unity both on and off the field."

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