Dates: Friday - Sunday, May 13-15, 2011
Times: Friday - 6:30 p.m.; Saturday - 2:00 p.m.; Sunday - 1:00 p.m.
Teams (Records): No. 25 Texas State (31-17, 20-7 SLC) vs. Nicholls (23-24, 12-15 SLC)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark (San Marcos, Texas)
Live Video: www.TxStateBobcats.com/showcase
Live Stats: www.TxStateBobcats.com/live_stats
Radio: 89.9 KTSW (Friday & Sunday) and www.TxStateBobcats.com/radio
In-Game Updates: Texas State Athletics Twitter Account - www.twitter.com/txstatebobcats
Texas State Athletics Facebook Account - www.facebook.com/txstatebobcats
Game Notes
San Marcos, Texas – No. 25 Texas State will host its final regular season home series of 2011 this weekend when Nicholls comes to Bobcat Ballpark for a three-game set beginning on Friday. The Bobcats and Colonels will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday before a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday. Sunday will also be Senior Day at Bobcat Ballpark as seven seniors will play in their final regular season home game.
Texas State will seek to extend its streak of consecutive home series victories against Southland Conference opponents this weekend. The Bobcats have won their last 14 SLC series at Bobcat Ballpark dating back to the 2009 season. The streak is the sixth longest of any team in NCAA Division I.
Texas State (31-17) will enter the weekend with a three-game lead in the Southland Conference and a 20-7 SLC record. The Bobcats can clinch at least a share of their third consecutive Southland Conference championship with a sweep this weekend.
Nicholls (23-24) has a 12-15 record in the Southland Conference to sit in a tie for eighth place with McNeese State. The Colonels enter the weekend after winning two-of-three against Southeastern Louisiana last weekend.
Starting pitchers for the weekend for Texas State will be Carson Smith, Mitchell Pitts and Colton Turner. Smith (7-3) has 27 strikeouts over his last two starts combined and is coming off a 14-strikeout performance against UTSA the warranted three national player of the week awards. Pitts (5-1) will pitch on Saturday and Turner (7-1) will toe the rubber for Sunday's game.
For Nicholls, Seth Webster, Patrick Shreve and Mike Wisecarver are scheduled to make starts. Friday's pitching matchup looks to be a good one as Smith will take on Webster (5-2) who has earned Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week accolades twice this season. Schreve (2-1) will make his eighth start of the season on Saturday, while Wisecarver (4-4) will bring an even record into Sunday's start.
This season, the Bobcats are 20-8 at home, while the Colonels are just 6-11 on the road.
The all-time series between Texas State and Nicholls has been relatively even with the Bobcats holding a 40-32 edge over the Colonels. Texas State took the most recent matchup between the two teams in last year's Southland Conference Tournament, which snapped a three-game winning streak for Nicholls. The last time that Nicholls played in San Marcos was 2009 when the Bobcats swept the three-game series.
Tickets for each game of the series are available through the Texas State Athletics Ticket Office and can be purchased at the gates of Bobcat Ballpark.
Live video and audio of all three games will be provided through www.TxStateBobcats.com, while fans in the San Marcos area can hear all the action on 89.9 KTSW for games on Friday and Sunday. Live stats will also be available through www.TxStateBobcats.com/live_stats.
Notes
National Player Of The Week
Junior Carson Smith was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, NCBWA Pitcher of the Week and College Baseball Insider Pitcher of the Week after he struck out the leadoff batter in all eight innings he pitched en route to a career-best 14 strikeout performance against UTSA (5/6). The right-hander allowed just two hits, both singles, in his eight shutout innings on the mound as he won his seventh game of the year. Smith was also named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week after the performance.
No. 25 Texas State
The Bobcats are No. 25 in the Baseball America Top-25 Poll for the second straight week. 2011 marks the third consecutive season that the Bobcats have been ranked during the season. In 2009, the Bobcats were ranked No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball, and in 2010 the Bobcats were as high as No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
Consecutive Conference Home Series Wins
Texas State has won 14 consecutive conference home series dating back to the 2009 season - the sixth longest streak of any team NCAA Division I team in the country.
Senior Day
Seven Bobcat seniors will be playing in their final home regular season game on Sunday - Bret Atwood, Brian Borski, Lee Colon, Joseph Dvorsky, Jim McGonigle, Fielding Pittman and Clint Vest.
