HAMMOND, La. – Coming off its first winning season in three years, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball program was picked to finish second in the 2025 Southland Conference Preseason Poll and six Lion players earned Preseason All-Conference honors, the league office announced Thursday.
 
Shortstop TJ Salvaggio, outfielder Cole Stromboe and starting pitcher Brennan Stuprich all earned first-team honors. Outfielders Parker Coley and Jude Hall, along with reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Larson Fabre, picked up second-team honors.
 
After missing the conference tournament in 2023, Southeastern (30-28) returned to the conference's postseason championship event this past season and picked up a pair of wins. That strong finish, and an impressive recruiting class, helped SLU jump five spots over the previous season's poll.
 
The Lions earned a total of 146 points, including four first-place votes, slotting in behind reigning regular-season champ Lamar. The Cardinals picked up 197 total points and the remaining 18 first-place votes from the Southland head coaches and media relations directors.
 
Following close behind SLU is McNeese (145) and Southland-newcomer UTRGV (144). One vote separates Nicholls (129), the reigning conference tournament champ, from sixth-place New Orleans (128). Rounding out the 11-team poll are UIW (95), Northwestern State (89), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (73), HCU (37) and SFA (27).
 
An automatic selection, Salvaggio earned first-team honors in 2024 after he led the Lions with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs. The senior from Slidell, Louisiana hit .295 on the way to scoring a team-high 52 runs.
 
Stromboe came on strong in the second half of the season. The redshirt senior from River Ridge, Louisiana finished the year with a .314 batting average, eight extra-base hits and 21 RBIs.
 
Another automatic selection, Stuprich also brought home first-team honors in 2024 after a bounce-back campaign on the mound. The redshirt senior from Kenner, Louisiana wrapped up last season with a 6-3 record and a 2.87 ERA that ranked second in the conference.
 
Both Coley and Hall enjoyed a power surge following Tax Day. Coley, a junior from Sterlington, Louisiana, blasted eight of his 12 home runs down the stretch. An All-Tournament selection last season, the Canadian-born Hall launched eight homers in a 10-game span during the season's final month.
 
Fabre (3-1, 3.45) proved to be the Lions' most dependable option out of the bullpen in 2024. The redshirt sophomore out of Denham Springs, Louisiana turned in scoreless outings during half of his appearances.
 
UP NEXT
Eleven of the Lions first 12 games are at home, including a four-game series with Lindenwood to open the season (Feb. 14-16). Southeastern's other weekend non-conference matchups are against Alcorn State (Feb. 21-23) and at Memphis (March 7-9).
 
Midweeks feature home games against Tulane (Feb. 19), UL Lafayette (Feb. 26), Southern Miss (Apr. 15) and South Alabama (May 6). Road trips include return trips to the previous four along with matchups at Ole Miss (March 4) and LSU (Apr. 29).
 
Conference action also opens in the friendly confines of Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field with Northwestern State coming to Hammond (Feb. 28-March 2). Other home conference series include McNeese (March 21-23), UIW (Apr. 4-6), UTRGV (Apr.17-19) and Lamar (May 2-4).
 
Southland road trips include Stephen F. Austin State (March 14-16), New Orleans (March 28-30), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 11-13), HCU (Apr. 25-27) and Nicholls (May 8-10).
 
The conference's top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the 2025 Southland Conference Baseball Championship which will be returning to the popular Regional/Super Regional format. The two-week event starts with bracket play, May 15-18, hosted by the top two seeds. The following weekend, the top remaining seed will host the best-of-three championship series between the bracket winners.
 
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or by visiting www.LionUp.com.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.
 
The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
 
FIRST-TEAM PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND
C - Zak Skinner, Lamar*
1B - Brayden Evans, Lamar*
2B - Isaac Webb, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
SS - TJ Salvaggio, Southeastern
3B - Rocco Gump, Northwestern State
OF - Reese Lipoma, Northwestern State*
OF - Connor Westenburg, McNeese
OF - Cole Stromboe, Southeastern+
OF - Tristian Moore, New Orleans+
UT - Bryce Calloway, New Orleans
DH - Rey Mendoza, UIW
SP - Brennan Stuprich, Southeastern
SP - John Salinas, UIW
SP - Zach Garcia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
RP - Kyle Moseley, Lamar
 
SECOND-TEAM PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND
C - Steven Lancia, UTRGV
1B - Martin Vazquez, UTRGV
2B - Diego Villescas, New Orleans
SS - Isaac Lopez, UTRGV
3B - Easton Moomau, UTRGV+
3B - Matt Ryan, Lamar+
OF - Balin Valentine, Northwestern State
OF - Parker Coley, Southeastern
OF - Jude Hall, Southeastern
UT - Simon Larranaga, McNeese
DH - Armani Raygoza, UTRGV
SP - Parker Edwards, HCU
SP - Angelo Cabral, UTRGV
SP - Tyler Bryan, Northwestern State
RP - Larson Fabre, Southeastern
 
PRESEASON SOUTHLAND BASEBALL POLL
1) Lamar                                     197 (18)
2) Southeastern                          146 (4)
3) McNeese                                145
4) UTRGV                                   144
5) Nicholls                                   129
6) New Orleans                           128
7) UIW                                           95
8) Northwestern State                   89
9) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi        73
10) HCU                                        37
11) SFA                                          27
 
 
* - elevated from second team
+ - tie for final spot
() – first-place votes