STEPHENVILLE - Head Coach Bryan Conger and the Tarleton baseball team announced the signing of nine more recruits for the 2012 season.

The Texans finished the season 35-10 and made on the second trip to the NCAA Division II tournament in school history.  The Tarleton coaching staff is hoping that these nine additions will help the Texans to a potential return trip in 2012 and fill the void of the 15 seniors from 2011.

The first signing is Jordan Badarack, a 6'2" right-handed pitcher out of Frisco.  Last year at Paris Junior College, Badarack had a 3.18 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 65 innings of work and was named to the all-region second team.

"Jordan comes to us from Paris JC where he played for Coach Deron Clark," said Conger.  "Jordan is a competitive strike thrower that will make immediate contribution in our starting rotation next year.  The thing that really stands out about him is that he has a true swing and miss slider that will be very effective in our conference."

The next signing is Kyle Supak, a 6'3" right-handed pitcher from LaGrange that played last season at Hill Junior College.  While there, Supak was named academic all-american as well as recording a 3.34 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 56.2 innings.

"Kyle is a young man whose best days are ahead of him on the mound," said Conger.  "He put together an impressive season at Hill JC and we believe he is going to be a valuable contributor next season.  Kyle falls into the mold on the rest of the pitchers we have signed for next year in that he has quality second pitches that will allow us to mix more than we have in the past."

Next is David Diaz, a 5'10 right-handed pitcher from Fort Worth who played at Cedar Valley Junior College in 2011.  In 78 innings of work, Diaz struck out 86 batters while only walking 30 and a 5.30 ERA.

"David is another young man we fell whose best days are ahead of him on the mound," said Conger.  "He was a two-way guy at Cedar Valley JC and now that he is going to concentrate solely on pitching, he is going to make some very nice progress.  David has an 87-91 mph fastball that has really good sink to it.  We are excited to see him progress once he gets there."

The next addition is Dustin Eskew is a 6'3" right-handed pitcher from China Springs, who tossed 18 innings and posted a 5.33 ERA at McClennan Junior College last season.

"Dustin is an interesting young man because he only has one year of JC ball under his belt," said Conger.  "He played football at Texas Tech out of high school and then decided to pursue baseball.  He is a strong athletic kid who with time and reps is going to turn himself into a valuable member of our team.  He has an above average curveball that will give him a chance to be successful early for us."

The first of the outfielders added was Khristian Camacho, a 5'10 district MVP out of Corpus Christi King High School.  With a .577 batting average and 39 stolen bases, Camacho was named team MVP and earned the Silver Slugger Award.  He was also a member of the THSCA 5A All-Star team.

"Khristian is a tremendous baseball player and an even better young man," said Conger.  "He led his high school team to the regional finals for the first time since 1967.  We feel he will be able to step in as a freshman and contribute right away.  He led south Texas in batting average, but the thing that really sticks out about Khristian is the way he plays the game.  He is aggressive and really gets after it.  He fits exactly into the style of player we like.  His future is going to be tremendous."

Joining the Texans from Texarkana Junior College is Austin Coble, a 5'10" infielder/pitcher from Houston.

"Austin joins us from Texarkana JC and is an extremely versatile player," said Conger.  "He has played shortstop, third base, second base and he pitches well.  Austin is a young man who we think will come in and be a contributor in several different areas next year.  He is going to play a position and pitch for us.  He has a good left-handed swing and runs well too.  He is a baseball player and when we saw him play, the first thing we thought was 'dirt bag', which is a big compliment." 

The next signing will be a first baseman or designated hitter, and that is Andrew Gross from Alvin. The 6'4”, 250 pound infielder played last season at Galveston Community College.

“Andrew joins us from Galveston CC and is certainly a big, strong young man,” said Conger. “Andrew has tremendous pop in his bat and really displayed it at the Texas Junior College All-Star game. We anticipate that Andrew will hit in the middle of the line-up next season and provide us with the power you like from a No. 4-hole hitter.”

Ryan Small will join the Texans as a catching prospect out of Midland Junior College. The 5'9” Longview native had a .409 batting average last season with 14 doubles and 22 RBI's.

“Ryan is a baseball player,” said Conger. “He is a young man that brings the intangibles to a team that every coach is looking for. Coach Coleman at Midland JC couldn't say enough about the way Ryan plays and what he meant to his team. Once we saw him play, we felt the same way. Ryan is a versatile player who can do different things, and is a proven .400 hitter in the Texas JC circuit.”

Rounding out the signings on Wednesday was Noah Ringenberger, a 5”10 outfielder from Flower Mound. Ringenberger is transferring to Tarleton from former Lone Star Conference foe Northeastern State, where he hit .442 last season and the Texans will look to use him in the pitching rotation as well. 

“Noah transfers to us from Northeastern and we feel he is a tremendous addition to our team,” said Conger. “He has two years of LSC play under his belt and has hit well over .400 both years. Noah is going to add a tremendous left-handed bat to the line-up next year. We were very impressed with the way he competed the last couple years and feel he is going to be another hard-nosed player who will bring the right style of play to our team.”

These nine players join Matt Buckmaster (Paris JC), Juan Espiricueta (Cochis JC), Landon Thompson (O'Connor HS), Landon Merka (The Woodlands HS), Evan Robinson (Flower Mound HS), Jonathan Schmitz (A&M Consolidated HS) and Andy Jacobi (Mansfield Legacy HS) as the 2012 class.

“This class represents another step forward as we continue to build our program,” said Conger. “The coaching staff is excited about the overall athletic ability of this group and we really feel we have taken a nice step forward in that department.”

For more information on the Tarleton baseball program, check out TarletonSports.com.