MARSHALL, Texas – Adding another great year for the East Texas Baptist University baseball program, the Tigers have received several postseason awards. Seven student-athletes earned either an NCAA, All-Region, or All-American award.
Connor Massimini becomes ETBU's eighth NCAA All-American and 11th overall All-American for the program, being named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Third Team and the D3baseball.com Fourth Team as an outfielder. He also earned All-Region First Team for both organizations.
Also earning All-Region or a special NCAA award are
Carson Livesay,
Isaac Thornton,
Aiden Leonard,
Kahne Nolen,
Carter Nannini, and
Tyler Bogusz.
Below is a bio for each player, including their awards from 2026.
Connor Massimini
ABCA All-American 3rd Team = 2026
D3baseball.com All-American 4th Team - 2026
ABCA All-Region 1st Team - 2026
D3baseball.com All-Region 1st Team – 2026
ABCA All-Region 3rd Team – 2024, 2025
All-ASC 1st Team – 2026
All-ASC 2nd Team – 2024, 2025
ASC All-Tournament - 2026
D3baseball.com Team of the Week – Apr. 23, 2025
ASC Hitter of the Week – 3 times
Massimini gains two All-American awards as an outfielder from the ABCA (3rd team) and D3baseball.com (4th team). He is the eighth student-athlete in the program to earn an NCAA All-American award, and the fifth player in seven years to earn the award from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com. The three-time All-Region selection, who made the ABCA and D3baseball.com First Team this year, finishes his career with 10 postseason awards that include the ASC.
He was also an All-ASC First Team selection and a member of the ASC All-Tournament team. Finishing the year with 16 home runs and 61 RBI to lead the ASC, he recorded a .342 batting average in 53 games played and started with 12 doubles and a .658 slugging percentage. In 16 games, he had 2+ RBI and hits, too. His offensive numbers helped ETBU to the ASC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, the NCAA Division III Regional and Super Regional Championships, and to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. He had a major impact on ETBU's offense this season with key hits. In the Super Regional Championship game vs. No. 2 Lynchburg, he hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at two. That started a five-run inning, with two home runs by his teammates coming after his, as ETBU won its second Super Regional Championship in four years. Ending No. 1 Denison's 44-game winning streak, he went 2-of-4 in the upset, 5-1, win. Hosting the NCAA Marshall, Texas Regional Tournament in the opening round, ETBU was trailing Concordia Texas, 5-4, when he hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning to put ETBU up, 8-5, as they went on to win, 9-6. In the ASC Tournament, he hit .445 with three RBI. One of his best games of the year came on March 24 when he hit two home runs vs. LeTourneau, going 4-of-5 for seven RBI and three runs scored.
Carson Livesay
NCAA Division III Championship All-Tournament Team - 2026
ABCA All-Region 1st Team - 2026
D3baseball.com All-Region 2nd Team - 2026
ASC Player of the Year – 2026
All-ASC 1st Team – 2026
All-ASC 2nd Team – 2025
ASC Hitter of the Week – 2 times
Livesay was named to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team and is an ABCA All-Region First Team and D3baseball.com All-Region Second Team selection. The two-time All-ASC selection went 6-of-10 in the final three games of the NCAA Championship Tournament, scoring five times and recording one double. He finished the year playing in 53 games and starting 51, with a .357 batting average, 66 runs scored, 70 hits, 12 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, and 49 RBI. He broke the ETBU record and tied the ASC record for most walks in a game with six vs. Hardin-Simmons on April 10. In two years, he has amassed a .343 batting average in 97 games played with 107 runs scored, 118 hits, 21 doubles, 13 triples, 13 home runs, 74 RBI, and 43 stolen bases.
Isaac Thornton
NCAA Division III Championship All-Tournament Team - 2026
ABCA All-Region 1st Team - 2026
D3baseball.com All-Region 1st Team - 2026
ASC Newcomer of the Year - 2026
All-ASC 1st Team – 2026
ASC All-Tournament – 2026
ASC Pitcher of the Week – 2 times
Pitching just one year, Thornton had a major impact on the postseason, being named to the NCAA Division III Championship All-Tournament Team, going 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament in four appearances. He earned wins over Concordia Texas, No. 2 Lynchburg, and No. 1 Denison. He had two complete game victories vs. CTX and UL and then went 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts as ETBU broke No. 1 Denison's 44-game win streak. In five postseason starts, including the ASC Tournament, he had 36 strikeouts. He was also named All-Region First Team for both ABCA and D3baseball.com. For the year, he went 10-1 with a 3.69 ERA in 15 games started, recording 110 strikeouts in 102.1 innings pitched.
Aiden Leonard
D3baseball.com All-Region 2nd Team – 2026
All-ASC 1st Team – 2026
Leonard earned an All-Region award from D3baseball.com on the second team for his role as a relief pitcher. He was an All-ASC First Team member, finishing the year at 7-0 with three saves in 42.2 innings pitched. In the NCAA Tournament, he made four appearances, recording 8.1 innings of work with eight strikeouts and a save vs. Baldwin Wallace in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Overall, he had 50 strikeouts on the year with a 3.80 ERA in 18 appearances and a career-high nine strikeouts vs. Austin College on Feb. 10.
Kahne Nolen
ABCA All-Region 3rd Team – 2026
Nolen gained his first postseason award, being named to the ABCA All-Region Third Team as a catcher. He finished the year hitting 14 home runs with a .315 batting average, 15 doubles, 41 hits, and 39 RBI. In the NCAA postseason, he was 9-of-29 (.310) with four RBI, three doubles, and three home runs. In the game three win over No. 2 Lynchburg, he hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to put the game away, 6-2, over the Hornets. Behind the plate, he threw out 11 runners, too.
Carter Nannini
ABCA All-Region 3rd Team – 2026
ASC Freshman of the Year - 2026
All-ASC 1st Team – 2026
Nannini posted a strong freshman year, earning ASC Freshman of the Year, All-ASC First Team, and was named to the ABCA All-Region Third Team. He led ETBU in batting average at .387 and finished with 53 hits, eight doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 37 RBI. In the postseason, he went 12-of-39 (.308) with 11 RBI, two doubles, and one home run. In the game one win over No. 2 Lynchburg, he recorded three RBI with a double, and then had three RBI in the NCAA Championship Tournament vs. Baldwin Wallace.
Tyler Bogusz
NCAA Division III Baseball Elite Academic Award - 2026
ASC All-Tournament - 2026
All-ASC 2nd Team – 2025, 2026
Bogusz's award is the top NCAA academic award a student-athlete can earn at the National Championship Tournament. With a 4.0 in finance/accounting, he was named the Elite Academic Award winner. This year, he was named to the ASC All-Tournament Team and was an All-ASC Second Team selection. He finished the year 5-2 with a 4.17 ERA in 15 appearances with 10 starts, recording 36 strikeouts in 58.1 innings pitched. He earned his fifth win of the year in an NCAA victory over Concordia Texas and had 10 strikeouts in the postseason, including the ASC Tournament. In his two years, he leaves with a 10-3 record, 28 appearances, 21 starts, and a 4.06 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 115.1 innings pitched.
