Texan Baseball’s Brandon Howell earns WAC Player of the Week title

STEPHENVILLE – Brandon Howell claimed the first WAC Award for Texan Baseball this season after being named the WAC Player of the Week on Monday.

In the second week of awards in the 2024 season, Howell took the WAC Player of the Week award. 

The Purple and White hosted the UTSA Roadrunners on Tuesday for their home opener and Howell stole the show and played one of the best games of his collegiate career with his first multi-homer game.

The junior for the Texans cranked out two home runs at very crucial times during the matchup to keep the home team in the game and then ultimately seal the deal for Tarleton State. 

After a three-run inning from the Roadrunners to take the lead at 10-8, Howell was next at the plate with one runner on and two outs on the board. The Southlake, Texas, native, sent a bomb over the left field wall for a two-run homer to tie the game up at 10-10. 

In the ninth inning with the game still tied at 10, Howell made his way to the box with no outs and the bases loaded. One crack of the bat later, a shot over the center field wall from the infielder sealed the deal for the Texans at 14-0. It is safe to say Howell was the star of the show in the UTSA matchup after the save in the seventh and a walk-off grand slam to close it out at the home opener.

This week alone, Howell batted .455, amassed eight runs, two homers, nine RBI, 14 total bases and four walks. 

In his second year in the Purple and White, Howell leads the team statistically in a handful of categories at the plate. The first baseman sits at a batting average of .500 to lead the Texans and has seen nothing less in each game played for the Tarleton State so far in the 2024 season. 

Howell leads the team in home runs (3), RBI (10), on base percentage (.708), and slugging percentage (1.356). He is one of three Texans to tally nine runs on the season, is one of four to lay down a triple and also earned a double for the Purple and White. This week alone, Howell has amassed eight runs, two homers and nine RBI.

This is the first WAC award of the season for the team and Howell’s first WAC honor. The other WAC award recipient for the week was Zach Norris, a right handed pitcher from UT Arlington who was named WAC Pitcher of the Week.