The Eastern New Mexico baseball program has been selected to finish in 13^th place in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Baseball Preseason Poll.

The poll reflects the views of the league’s coaches, sports information directors and media representatives in preparation for the 2021 season. Eastern New Mexico received 42 total votes and will be coming off a shortened 2020 campaign that saw the Hounds finish with an overall record of 3-19.

Angelo State received 23 first-place votes in the poll and will enter the 2021 season as the preseason favorite to win the league after totaling 428 votes. UT Tyler and West Texas A&M were separated by just four votes in second and third place, setting the stage for what figures to be a hotly contested battle at the top of the league standings.

Angelo State standouts Josh Elvir and Trent Baker were selected as Preseason Hitter and Pitcher of the year, respectively, after each individual turned in a dominating COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign.

An official schedule for the Hounds is still to be determined as the university continues to assess state guidelines and how that will affect scheduling for Eastern New Mexico spring sports. The 2021 Lone Star Conference schedule is set to begin on January 29 with teams playing a single round-robin schedule with a three-game weekend series against each league opponent.

The LSC Championship will be a two-week tournament featuring eight teams with the opening round on campus on May 7-9. The winners of each opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament played May 13-15. The winner of the postseason tournament will be recognized as the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.

Regardless of the uncertainties pertaining to the scheduling of the 2021 campaign for the Hounds, there are certainties pertaining to the new look roster that will be put on full display this spring in head coach Riley Price‘s second year at the helm of the program. 17 new additions to the roster will look to revitalize a young and talented roster, the majority of whom will join Eastern New Mexico with collegiate baseball experience already under their belt.

12 of those 17 new additions are transfers while the five other new Greyhounds will join the program as incoming freshman.

Those newcomers will look to find a spot in a lineup that will return three of the four top batting averages on the club from 2020 in redshirt junior Trevor Moses (.319), redshirt junior Daniel Hunt (.237) and redshirt freshman Jude Perea (.271). Perea highlights a talented freshman class from a year ago that saw much-needed game time due to injuries and roster changes throughout 2020.

A reloaded pitching staff will have a wealth of fresh talent joining a rotation that will feature redshirt junior Josh Lewis, who made six starts last season in his first season as a Greyhound after transferring from McPherson College.

More information regarding an official schedule for the Greyhounds will be released at a later date as state and local guidelines continue to change.

2021 LSC Baseball Preseason Poll

Rank	School	1st	Total Points
1.	Angelo State	23	428
2.	UT Tyler	6	396
3.	West Texas A&M	4	392
4.	Texas A&M-Kingsville	1	300
5	St. Mary’s		275
6.	UAFS		274
7.	St. Edward’s		272
8.	Lubbock Christian		212
9.	Oklahoma Christian		171
10.	UT Permian Basin		143
11.	Cameron		115
12.	Texas A&M International		74
13.	Eastern New Mexico		42