May 1, 2026

Baseball Earns 10 All-SCAC Selections

CLEBURNE, Texas – Ten Centenary baseball players earned spots on the 2026 All-SCAC Team, it was announced by the league office on Friday.

CLEBURNE, Texas – Adam Peavy of Texas Lutheran University was voted the Offensive Player-of-the-Year and Hunter Poe of McMurry University was selected the league's Pitcher-of-the-Year in exclusive 2026 all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) voting by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors. Complete Release

In the same balloting, McMurry's Kaden Buske and Texas Lutheran's Jack Grames split the vote to share First-Year Player-of-the-Year honors, while Texas Lutheran head coach Kyle Palmer earned SCAC Coach-of-the-Year accolades.

The 10 Diamond Gents who made the team are listed below:

Senior IF Clay Menard (Berwick, La.)

Freshman RHP Garritt Romero (Manvel, Texas)

Sophomore RHP Treyson Martin (Huffman, Texas)

Sophomore P Coen Laroux (Woodworth, La.)

Sophomore CF Blaine Birkelbach (Pearland, Texas)

Sophomore RF Noah Paulson (El Lago, Texas)

Freshman 1B Ethan Hopkins (Baton Rouge, La.)

Junior SS Vance Sartor (Prescott Valley, Ariz.)

Junior LF Bryce Bienvenu (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)

Sophomore DH Turner Mclelland (Minden, La.)

Peavy, a senior first baseman from Houston, Texas, leads the SCAC in batting average (.447), on-base percentage (.597), slugging percentage (.735) and total bases (97), and is ranked in the top 10 in several other offensive categories heading into conference tournament. He is second in runs scored (47), third in both hits (59) and doubles (15), fourth in home runs (seven), sixth in runs batted in (39) and seventh in walks (27). The senior was twice named SCAC Hitter-of-the-Week during the regular season, including a Week 3 performance (2/16-2/22) when he hit .500 (6-for-12) with five extra base hits, including two home runs in Game Two, in a three-game sweep of St. Thomas. Playing in his hometown, Peavy drove in eight runs and scored six more as the Bulldogs improved to 5-1 in league play and took the early lead in the conference standings. He is the fifth TLU player to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors and the first since Tyler Post in 2023, who was also the last first baseman to win the award.

Peavy was the runaway choice for Offensive Player-of-the-Year, receiving 16 first-place votes during the balloting process. Sophomore first baseman Collin Bruning of McMurry and senior second baseman Austin Rabago of Hendrix College received three votes each.

Poe, a senior right-hander from Midland, Texas, has been the workhorse of the War Hawks' staff, taking the ball to open almost every league series this season. Poe, who currently leads the SCAC in games started (12) and strikeouts (71), has worked 71.0 innings (sixth in the SCAC) while allowing 69 hits and 26 earned runs for an ERA of 3.30 (third in the SCAC) and a WHIP of 1.15 (third in the SCAC). His 9.00 strikeouts per nine innings are also good for third in the league, and opponents are batting .250 against him. Poe picked up his second career SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honor in Week 4 when he tossed a complete game, five-hitter in a 2-1 victory against St. Thomas. The senior charted a career-high 13 strikeouts in the win.

Poe garnered eight first-place votes in the balloting for Pitcher-of-the-Year, with votes distributed among seven different players. Senior left-hander Aiden Leggett of Hendrix picked up five votes while sophomore right-hander Michael Martinez of University of St. Thomas garnered three votes. LeTourneau senior right-hander Clayton Holt and senior right-hander Triston McGowan of Texas Lutheran both earned two votes while Centenary College sophomore right-hander Treyson Martin, and senior right-hander Braxton Waller of Hendrix received one vote each.

McMurry's Buske, a first-year outfielder from Lubbock, Texas, leads all first-year players and is currently second in the conference in batting average (.407) and third in on-base percentage (.503). He has 50 hits (10th in the SCAC) heading into the conference tournament with 39 runs scored (ninth in the SCAC), six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 22 runs driven in. He has also stolen 20 baes (third in the SCAC). The first-year right-fielder made an immediate impact both offensively and defensively, with his plays in the outfield described as "game-changing" throughout the season. Buske is the second consecutive McMurry player to earn First-Year Player-of-the-Year honors, following current teammate Collin Bruning who won the award last season.

Grames of Texas Lutheran, a first-year left-hander from Elgin, Texas, made his presence felt immediately on the Bulldogs' pitching staff, finishing the regular season tied for the league lead in both wins (eight) and complete games (three) and fourth in innings pitched (73.2). The freshman southpaw struck out 48 batters (seventh in the SCAC) and allowed 39 earned runs for an ERA of 4.76, which dipped to 3.98 in conference only competition. All three of his complete games came during conference play, including this past weekend when his 7.0 inning, four-hit shutout performance over University of Dallas clinched the SCAC regular season title for the Bulldogs. Grames is the fourth TLU player to earn First-Year Player-of-the-Year honors and the first since Joe Jimenez was honored following the 2019 season.

Buske and Grames both picked up nine first-place votes in the First-Year Player-of-the-Year balloting, while first-year first baseman Ethan Hopkins of Centenary and first-year third baseman Ryne Dodson of Hendrix split the remaining four first-place vote.

In this third year at the helm of the Texas Lutheran program, head coach Kyle Palmer led the Bulldogs to an overall mark of 28-12 (21-9 in conference play), the regular season conference title and the top seed heading into this weekend's SCAC Baseball Tournament. The regular season crown is the first for TLU since the 2023 season and the fourth since the program joined the SCAC prior to the 2014 season. Palmer, who returned to his alma mater following four successful seasons as the head coach at Belhaven, has posted a 77-44 (.636) overall mark heading into this weekend's tournament, including a 50-31 (.617) record in league play. In one less season, he has matched his win total (77) from this four-year stint at Belhaven, and his overall coaching mark stands at 154-104 (.597). The COTY award is the first for Palmer but marks the fourth time a Texas Lutheran coach has been so honored, following Greg Burnett in 2016 and 2019 and Rick Heines in 2023.

2026 SCAC Player-of-the-Year
Adam Peavy, Texas Lutheran University, Senior, First Baseman, Houston, Texas

2026 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year
Hunter Poe, McMurry University, Senior, Pitcher, Midland, Texas

2026 SCAC First-Year Co-Players-of-the-Year
Kaden Buske, McMurry University, First-Year, Outfielder, Lubbock, Texas
Jack Grames, Texas Lutheran University, First-Year, Pitcher, Elgin, Texas

2026 SCAC Coach-of-the-Year
Kyle Palmer, Texas Lutheran University, 28-12 Overall Record (21-9 SCAC) / SCAC Regular Season Champion

For the complete 2026 SCAC All-Conference baseball team, click here.