NATCHITOCHES – Two key pieces of Northwestern State's double-figure win improvement earned All-Southland Conference Baseball Team honors.
 
Seniors Rocco Gump and Reese Lipoma were named second-team All-Southland by a vote of league coaches and sports information directors with the results announced Wednesday morning by the conference office.
 
Lipoma, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior from Gonzales, leads Northwestern State in batting average (.328), hits (66), runs (60) and walks (46). He ranks in the top 10 in the Southland in runs (T-2^nd), walks (3^rd), on-base percentage (.457, 8^th), hits (9^th) and stolen bases (11, T-10^th).
 
A fifth-year senior, Lipoma enters the Southland Conference Tournament in a third-place tie for the most walks in a single season in Northwestern program history while his run total places him in a three-way tie for fifth in a single season.
 
His 131 career runs place him eighth in Demon history.
 
It marks the second straight season for Lipoma to be named to the second-team all-conference squad.
 
Gump, a 6-3, 190-pound senior from Chandler, Arizona, also was honored by the conference for the second season after being named the all-defensive third baseman as a junior.
 
Gump was named the second-team third baseman after a regular season that saw him bat .309 with seven home runs and a team-leading 51 RBIs.
 
The 51 RBIs rank sixth in the conference while Gump's 19 stolen bases place him a tie for fifth place in the league. Gump's 21 hit by pitches also rank him second in the league and are tied for the second most in school single-season history.
 
Gump's 35 career hit by pitches are fifth in program history.
 
Gump and Lipoma will lead the Demons into the opening game of the Southland Conference Tournament's Hammond Bracket when fourth-seeded Northwestern faces No. 5 seed McNeese at 1 p.m. Thursday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
2025 All-Southland Conference Baseball Teams
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Armani Raygoza, UTRGV
HITTER OF THE YEAR: Damian Ruiz, Lamar
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Brennan Stuprich, Southeastern
RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Brady St. Pierre, Southeastern
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Victor Loa, UTRGV
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Cermodrick Bland, SFA
COACH OF THE YEAR: Bobby Barbier, Southeastern
 
First Team All-Conference
C             Steven Lancia, UTRGV
1B          Rob Liddington, UIW
2B          Matt Ryan, Lamar
SS          TJ Salvaggio, Southeastern
3B          Easton Moomau, UTRGV
OF          Damian Ruiz, Lamar
OF          Conner Westenburg, McNeese
OF          Dane Watts, Southeastern
UT          Bryce Calloway, New Orleans
DH         Armani Raygoza, UTRGV
SP          Brennan Stuprich, Southeastern
SP          Riely Hunsaker, Lamar
SP          Victor Loa, UTRGV
RP          Brady St. Pierre, Southeastern
 
Second Team All-Conference
C             Conner O'Neal, Southeastern
1B          Jacob Sanchez, UTRGV
2B          Thomas Williams, UTRGV
SS          Isaac Lopez, UTRGV
3B          Rocco Gump, Northwestern State
OF          Rhett Hendricks, HCU
OF          Tristan Moore, New Orleans
OF          Reese Lipoma, Northwestern State
UT          Giovanni Licciardi, Southeastern
DH         Rey Mendoza, UIW
SP          Grant Edwards, New Orleans
SP          Blake Lobell, Southeastern
SP          Alexis Gravel, McNeese
RP          Peyton Havard, Lamar
 
All-Defensive Team
C             Steven Lancia, UTRGV
1B          Austin Russell, A&M-Corpus Christi
2B          Thomas Williams, UTRGV
SS          Isaac Lopez, UTRGV
3B          Easton Moomau, UTRGV
LF           Dane Watts, Southeastern
CF          Conner Westenburg, McNeese
RF          Parker Coley, Southeastern
P             Zach Garcia, A&M-Corpus Christi