SAN ANTONIO – The first word young Mason Lytle ever spoke was ‘baseball.’
It’s no surprise that, all these years later, he’s on a quest to help lead UTSA to new heights in the sport under sixth-year head coach Pat Hallmark, who has directed the program to three consecutive 30-plus-win seasons.
“I was born with it, I’m pretty sure,” Lytle said of baseball. “I had an older brother [Hunter] who was playing. My dad [Paul] had played baseball. I grew up with it and loved it.
“My dad played baseball at Hill Junior College and was a coach for select baseball as I was growing up. He’s been there along the way and I credit a lot to him. With my brother, it was the competitive battle between him and me growing up, whether it was putting on a seatbelt or playing baseball. I give credit to him for the competitive drive and learning how to win and lose at an early age.”
Lytle has undoubtedly brought both talent and star-power to the Roadrunners, but you wouldn’t know it from meeting him. With a strong work-ethic and a deep faith, Lytle avoids the spotlight and prefers his work on the field to speak for itself.
“I try to stay humble and grounded,” he said. “It comes with hard work, trusting the hard work and trusting that other people are putting in the hard work. You may perform better than others at times but, at the end of the day, we’re all the same and we’re all working towards the same goal.”
Lytle hails from Pearland, Texas, in the Houston metro, an area rich with baseball talent. That competitive environment helped jumpstart Lytle’s confidence in his own abilities.
“Growing up, you’re playing against people who are going to be MLB first-round draft picks,” Lytle said. “Then, in high school, you really get to see them develop. You’re competing with these guys and being successful against them, so it makes you feel like you could hang with it. It makes you want to keep pursuing it.”
Lytle proved his strong ability in high school – he was a First-Team University Interscholastic League Class 6A selection as a junior and was a Perfect Game Preseason-All American his senior year. He also was named to the all-tournament team at the 17U Perfect Game World Series.
While Lytle’s abilities positioned him well to continue his baseball career after high school, he had lost much of the passion he once had for the sport.
“High school came along and I didn’t really enjoy it as much,” he said. “I just played it because I was good at it.”
After his high school graduation, Lytle attended San Jacinto College, playing baseball at the junior college level. He was a two-time all-conference and all-region player at San Jacinto and it was there that he reclaimed his love for the sport.
“Junior college was probably the best route that I could have taken because I wasn’t ready to be a DI player out of high school as much as I thought I was,” Lytle said. “I got to be surrounded by people who worked hard and loved the game. I got to see older players that had proven success; they showed me that I have to put in the work. Everybody there was the best player on their team in high school and I knew I would get left behind if I didn’t start putting in the work. From there, it just kind of became a habit.”
His standout play at San Jacinto College drew notice from the University of Oregon, where Lytle played in just six games in 2023 before a nagging injury ended his season. He suffered a labrum tear that had worsened over time and had to have surgery to repair it.
Lytle initially considered stepping away from baseball.
“I kind of wanted to hang it up and pursue other things because it’s something that is tough to come back from,” he said. “Injuries can be so hard because you’re so far away from the game, it can be kind of depleting, but I had a good support system. I leaned on God, trusted my faith and found the right home here. It was a blessing.”
When Lytle started looking for a new home, there weren’t many schools that came calling. His injury left questions in the minds of other potential schools and they wanted a player who could make an impact right away. Lytle is grateful for the opportunity UTSA provided him.
“They took a chance on me last year when I was in the transfer portal coming from Oregon and not many other schools did,” Lytle said. “They gave me the freedom to not have the pressure of succeeding right away. They let me embrace recovering from the injury and let me get back to full form. They took a chance on me and let me be free which I think, in turn, helped me play better.”
Free from expectations, Lytle did make an immediate impact for the Roadrunners. He started 54 of his team’s 56 games and his impressive numbers spoke for themselves. Lytle ranked 24th in the nation in hits per game with 1.57, he was 17th nationally in sacrifice flies with seven and he was the 30th-toughest player in the nation to strike out, leading the American Athletic Conference in that category. He also averaged more doubles per game (0.33) than any other player in the league.
Lytle was named the AAC’s Newcomer Position Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2024. He credits both his coaches and his teammates for helping him achieve those accolades.
“The coaches gave me that sense of security where I could be confident and not have that internal and external pressure to be successful,” he said. “It was just a testament to being on a winning team and having eyes on us, and a testament to the hard work that we all put in. I’m truly blessed to be the one that got the award.”
As a result of his success last season, Lytle had opportunities to play at Power 5 programs, but chose to stay at UTSA and help the Roadrunners continue their ascent in college baseball. He feels his decision was a no-brainer.
“It was just a sense of being home,” Lytle said. “I’m close to my family and they’re able to come to the games. I’m playing for a good coach in a good culture and I’m really enjoying the place that I’m in.”
While training for the upcoming season, Lytle spent the summer working in the UTSA Athletics Department for Katie Meyers, Assistant Athletics Director for Creative Services. That gave him a new perspective on the inner workings of college athletics.
“I got to see behind the scenes,” Lytle said. “I’m glad Katie offered me the opportunity. When you’re playing, you don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes and it was cool to see the team that’s built to help our team on the field. Now, when I’m walking around RACE, I see a lot of people and we know each other. It’s really a family.”
Lytle hopes to continue playing baseball once his time at UTSA has concluded, whether it’s in the MLB or overseas. He has talked with teammate Lorenzo Morresi about one day playing professionally in Italy. Once he’s finished his career on the diamond, Lytle wants to give back to others.
“I would love to open a Christian-based sports performance gym further down the road whenever that’s possible,” he said “I’m big into faith and I always try to give back and give more than I receive.”
With a bachelor’s degree from UTSA already in hand and in pursuit of a master’s degree in business, Lytle enters his final collegiate season in 2025. He is determined to help continue building something special at Roadrunner Field.
“I love what’s being built here and I’m glad to be part of it,” Lytle said. “I think Coach Hallmark is building a program and a culture that is going to be part of the top-25 for years to come. I’m blessed to be able to be one of the stepping stones to help us get to the regionals, super regionals and create that foundation for future teams to build off of.”