Familiar setting: Zeplin making most of return home with A&M-Victoria baseball

By Sam Fowler

Assistant Athletic Director-Communications

Blane Zeplin knows Victoria's Riverside Stadium better than most.

A product of Victoria West and former member of the Texas Collegiate League's Victoria Generals, Zeplin has practically grown up at the 79-year-old ballpark.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander also knows the environment the ballpark creates when the big games come up on the schedule.

"Growing up playing here was really great," Zeplin said. "The East-West games always had really big crowds. Now, the A&M-Victoria games and playing for the Generals, Victoria always shows out. I've always experienced that big of a moment with everyone there. And it's just been a blast."

His pitching proved instrumental to the Texas A&M University-Victoria baseball team's first-ever Red River Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship this year and the program's highest-ever ranking in the NAIA Poll at No. 8.

Now, the senior will get to cap off his career at home when the Jaguars (33-13) welcome Jarvis Christian to Victoria for a best-of-three series in the RRAC Tournament First Round presented by the Victoria Rosebuds.

Game 1 is slated for 6:45 p.m. on Friday while Game 2 is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. If necessary, Game 3 will be at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Admission to all games is free.

The road back home

After graduating from West, Zeplin began his collegiate career at Blinn College in Brenham.

"In high school, I didn't get many offers and was a late bloomer," Zeplin said. "It came down to Blinn or Tyler Junior College, and Blinn was closer to home, so it felt like the right fit."

His freshman year, Zeplin made 15 appearances out of the bullpen and put together a 3-3 record over 40.2 innings. But his collegiate journey would lead him north to Seminole, Oklahoma, and Seminole State College in 2024.

With the Trojans, Zeplin boasted a 7-2 record in 16 appearances and 13 starts with 59 strikeouts over 64.1 innings. That sophomore-year performance landed Zeplin a spot with Stephen F. Austin State, allowing him to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing Division I baseball.

He made 13 appearances with one start for the Lumberjacks, totaling 14.1 innings in 2025 and returned to Nacogdoches in the fall of 2025. After the semester, Zeplin was looking for a place to finish out his career in the spring and A&M-Victoria was the perfect choice.

"He's always had great talent and good arm talent on the mound," said A&M-Victoria head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "I've seen him pitch, playing with the Generals. We wanted him here with what he can bring to the table. He's established himself as a team leader, not just with what he does on the field but off the field, as well."

A&M-Victoria baseball player Blane Zeplin pitches in his first home start for A&M-Victoria against Wiley University. (Lily Standridge/A&M-Victoria Athletics)

Immediate impact

After joining the team in January, Zeplin wasted no time becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in the nation.

"We had very high expectations for him coming in," Stavinoha said. "He's met and exceeded those expectations. And he's got more in the tank. We're looking forward to seeing what 's got in the postseason."

He won his first start in a 9-3 win over Texas Wesleyan in the second game of the year, surrendering two runs on two hits with three strikeouts. In his second start, a 9-2 win over Wiley on Jan. 31, Zeplin struck out 10 batters while letting up just one run on one hit.

Since then, the senior has been on a tear, boasting a 9-1 record with a 2.52 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 75 innings of work.

He is second in the nation in strikeouts and wins, and second in the conference in ERA.

Zeplin has been named RRAC Pitcher of the Week three times this season. He has eclipsed double-digit strikeouts six times this season, including a career-high 11 batters in a 9-4 win over A&M-Texarkana on March 6.

His resurgence on the mound is something he credits to the coaching philosophy of Stavinoha and longtime pitching coach Doug Heinold.

"Here, I'm not scared," Zeplin said. "I shouldn't have been at SFA, but I was scared to walk a guy. Here, if I walk a guy, Stav and Doug go, 'Alright, go get the next guy.' Just having that confidence knowing they're going to let me figure it out. Even at the start of the year, I had a couple of bad starts – I didn't give up a bunch of runs, I just wasn't there control-wise. I had a point this year where something clicked mechanically. From there, I've been pounding the strike zone. It was really, I think, that confidence from Stav and Doug to keep rolling me out there and that I'd figure it out."

A&M-Victoria's Blane Zeplin screams after a strikeout in a game against LSU Shreveport at Riverside Stadium on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Lily Standridge/A&M-Victoria Athletics)

Big dreams

Zeplin isn't shy about his immediate and long-term goals.

After helping the Jaguars clinch their first-ever regular season title, his vision, like the rest of the team, is bigger.

His freshman year at Blinn, he went with the Buccaneers to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. He wants to go a step further this season with the Jaguars

"I want to go win a World Series," Zeplin said. "That's what I want to do and whatever I can do to help the team get there is what I'm going to do. I think everyone on this team has that mindset."