Baseball Lions Land Pair

SAGU secures new recruits; Lott, Lax

RRAC tourney results; championship today

BRIGHT FUTURE: Bracy Lott, Head Coach Greg Hayes during signing ceremony near the Lions practice field.WAXAHACHIE, Texas  --  Following a season of improvement, the Southwestern Assemblies of God University baseball team has wasted little time in signing new talent to bolster what appears to be a good returning cast.

Head Coach Greg Hayes received the commitment of a pair of high school seniors who could make an immediate impact. They are players who have skills at positions and areas the Lions have needs. Pitchers and infielders as well as good batters, the pair appears quite capable, according to Hayes.

Bracy Lott, Forney, Texas

The first signee is Bracy Lott. He has experience at First Base, Third Base and in Rightfield. Lott, who is from Forney High School, also pitches.  Lott is known as a very good hitter and is solid in the field at the corners.

Forney is southeast of Dallas, near Mesquite. The Jackrabbits, currently 15-13, compete in Class 4A under head coach Jason Farrow.

Tyler Lax, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Tyler and his brother (right) and parents Allen and Kim Lax.Another recruit, the second to ink his name on a binding National Letter of Intent is Tyler Lax. The Third Baseman and Pitcher also swings a potent bat for Broadmoor High School where Paul Greer is the head coach.

He batted .430 this season and came out of the bullpen as a right-handed reliever. The 6’2, 220-pounder lettered three years for the Buccaneers in baseball and one in football.

Lax is very involved in the Christian Youth Fellowship at First Christian Church. At school he has been cited as a Global Young Leader and Global Scholar Representative.

"I’m very excited about my college future at Southwestern,” Lax said last week, “and am really looking forward to playing ball for SAGU.”

SAGU Lions Overview

The Lions made ample improvement in their offense, raising their team batting average from .266 up to .280, and scored two more runs per game against conference opponents than the previous season.

Pitchers’ most meaningful statistic, their Earned Run Average, how many runs they give up per nine innings not counting those allowed due to errors, was significant. In 2010 the Lions’ ERA was a league-worst 10.00. This spring it was lowered to 7.38, a sizeable upgrade.

The squad, under the leadership of Hayes and Assistant Coach Clay Scarborough, who works with the pitchers, are developing a plan to focus on shoring up a defense that was too porous.

Red River Conference

Southwestern is a member in the Red River Athletic Conference, which has teams in four states. The top six teams qualify for a berth in the RRAC tournament, which takes place this weekend in Shreveport, Louisiana.

In this week’s NAIA Coaches Poll, LSU-Shreveport (38-13) was #9, after climbing to #5 the week before. Northwood University (35-14), of nearby Cedar Hill, Texas, were #17. Texas Wesleyan University (31-21) was at #40 after taking 2-of-3 from LSUS in a season series finale.

RRAC Tournament Update

The tourney has eliminated three teams and will crown the 2011 champion this evening. The host LSU-Shreveport (41-13) will play in the 3:00pm title game against the winner of the Northwood University (36-15) and UT-Brownsville (34-23). That game is set to begin at 11:30am this morning.

Should LSUS lose the 3pm contest, it would be their first setback in the tournament. They would then play a winner-take-all championship at 5:30pm on the Pilots home field.

LSU-Shreveport went 20-5 at home during the regular season, winning their last 19 straight on their campus field. They have won three more in the tourney by a combined 37-5 score.

Results in the first three days of the double-elimination tourney:

April 30  -  Saturday
Game 1:  #2 Northwood   11-8   #5 Wiley College
Game 2:  #4 UT-Brownsville   14-4   #3 Texas Wesleyan
Game 3:  #1 LSU Shreveport   15-1   #6 Texas College
 
May 1  -  Sunday
Game 4:  Wiley College   11-1   Texas College (TC eliminated)
Game 5:  LSU Shreveport   11-0   Texas Wesleyan (TWU eliminated)
Game 6:  UT-Brownsville   13-12   Northwood
 
May 2  -  Monday
Game 7:  LSU Shreveport   11-4   UT-Brownsville
Game 8:  Northwood   8-2   Wiley College (WC eliminated)
 
May 3  -  Tuesday
Game 9:  Northwood vs. UT-Brownsville, 11:30am
LSU Shreveport vs. Winner Game 9, Championship Game, 3pm
Second Championship Game (if necessary), 5:30pm

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 469-658-2847