Baseball | 2/16/2017 3:22:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team is set to begin the new campaign with a four-game series against Big Ten foe Purdue. The Bobcats and Boilermakers will compete Feb. 17-19 at Bobcat Ballpark with a doubleheader set for Feb. 18. First pitch of the series opener will be 6 p.m. Feb. 17.
 
This marks just the second series between the two programs in history, with the first coming back in 2009. Texas State swept Purdue in those three contests. TXST is coming off a 31-28 campaign, while the Boilermakers were 10-44 a year ago.

Series Info: Purdue at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Dates: Friday, Feb. 17 – Sunday, Feb. 19
Time: Friday - 6 pm | Saturday - 1 pm & 4 pm | Sunday – Noon
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #41 RHP Connor Reich (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. #13 RHP Tanner Andrews (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Saturday: #13 LHP Brandon Lewis (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. #32 LHP Gareth Stroth (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Saturday: #36 RHP Nicholas Fraze (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. #43 RHP Tanner Schumacher (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday: #18 LHP Wes Engle (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA

2017 SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
The Texas State Athletics Ticket Office has announced season ticket packages for the upcoming 2017 Bobcat baseball campaign. Tickets are now on sale for both season ticket renewals and new purchases. Reserved season tickets can be purchased for $150 and general admission seats are $99. Special discounts are available for Bobcat Club donors, Texas State faculty and staff, recent alumni (2012-16) and members of the T-Association. A complete list of those discounts can be found in the chart below. Patrons can purchase their season tickets at the Mark & Linda Smith Athletic Ticket Office located at Bobcat Stadium, by calling the office at 512-245-2272, or by logging into their account on TXStateBobcats.com/tickets. Season ticket holders may renew their same seating locations as last year by logging into their account, calling 512-245-2272 or visiting the Mark & Linda Smith Athletic Ticket Office between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Patrons attempting to login to their account need to check their email for instructions from Texas State on how to do so.
 
The deadline for season ticket renewals was Feb. 3, and Mini-Plans went on sale Jan. 31. Single game tickets were made available for purchase Feb. 7 for all games except Texas and Texas A&M, which went on sale March 1. TXST is billed to play 33 games inside Bobcat Ballpark this season. Notable non-conference home games include dates with Baylor (Feb. 22), Rice (March 15), Texas (March 21) and Texas A&M (March 28). The first Sun Belt Conference action will be a three-game home series against the defending national champion Coastal Carolina Chanticleers March 17-19.
 
NOTE: Season ticket holders receive the benefit of being able to purchase additional tickets to any home game, including the Texas and Texas A&M games, when they pay for their season tickets.
 

SEASON TICKET TYPE	SEASON TICKET PRICE
RESERVED	$150
BOBCAT CLUB DONORS	$125
TXST FACULTY/STAFF	$125
RECENT ALUMNI (2012-16)	$125
RESERVED YOUTH	$100
GENERAL ADMISSION	$99
T-ASSOCIATION DONORS	$75

WHAT LIES AHEAD
The Bobcats have lined up a treacherous slate for the 2017 campaign that features numerous dangerous opponents and allows Texas State fans plenty of opportunities to see some of the best college baseball teams in the nation. TXST is scheduled to play 23 road games and 33 contests in the friendly confines of Bobcat Ballpark. Of those 22 different opponents, seven received preseason national top-25 rankings from at least one of the five accredited ranking organizations (Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma State, Rice, Sam Houston State, Texas, Texas A&M). Also on the docket is seven programs that competed in the NCAA Championship last year (CCU, OSU, Rice, TAMU, SHSU, Louisiana, South Alabama), two College World Series participants (CCU, OSU) and the defending national champions (CCU). Texas State was also the only Sun Belt school to schedule a team from a Power 5 Conference (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) opening weekend. TXST lined up a four-game set with Big Ten foe Purdue Feb. 17-19.
 
A NEW FORMAT THIS YEAR
Beginning with the 2017 season, the Sun Belt Conference will conduct its baseball regular season with divisional play. Two divisions will be comprised of six teams each, and divisional champions will be awarded at the end of the year based on the winning percentage against all teams, regardless of division. The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship will be seeded with the division winners as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the No. 1 seed being awarded to the divisional winner with the best conference winning percentage. The number of teams playing in the conference championship will increase from eight to 10. This would cause two additional games to be played. The first round games will include the No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed and the No. 7 seed vs. the No. 10 seed, with both contests conducted as single-elimination games on Tuesday of tournament week. The conference tournament is set for May 23-28 at J.I. Clements Stadium on the campus of Georgia Southern.
 
BOBCATS SELECTED FOURTH IN SBC WEST DIVISION
Texas State was selected to finish fourth in the West Division of the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league announced Feb. 8. The Bobcats collected 44 points to land one point shy of Little Rock, while Louisiana sat atop the division with 72 points. The Ragin' Cajuns also earned all 12 first-place votes. UTA was slotted second with 50 points, while Arkansas State (27 points) and ULM (14 points) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Coastal Carolina, the defending national champions, were projected as the favorites in the SBC East Division with 70 points and 10 first-place votes. South Alabama earned a first-place vote and was tabbed second with 56 points, while Georgia Southern picked up the final first-place vote and landed in third with 48 points. Troy (39 points), Georgia State (23 points) and Appalachian State (15 points) rounded out the bottom half of the East Division.
 
ORTEGA EARNS PRESEASON ACCOLADE
Jonathan Ortega was named to the 2017 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team. The sophomore member of the Texas State baseball program started all 59 games during his rookie campaign. He finished with a .286 (72-for-252) batting average, while also compiling 14 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 35 RBI's and 33 runs scored. The speedy infielder tied for the team lead with seven stolen bases and also finished third in the SBC with 166 assists. He ranked eighth in the conference in double plays turned (32) and ninth in total hits.
 
HARRINGTON ADDS 6 FOR 2018
The Texas State baseball team and head coach Ty Harrington have announced that six high school seniors have been added to the program during the early signing period. The newest Bobcats all come from Texas and are set to join the team in the 2018 season. The class include two pitcher/infielders, two infielders, one outfielder and one pitcher.
 
The newest Bobcats are Matthew Charles (SS/RHP, 5-10, 155, Houston, Texas), Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli (SS/RHP, 6-0, 175, Austin, Texas), Wesley Faison (IF, 6-3, 225, Richmond, Texas), Matthew Nicholas (RHP, 6-0, 185, San Marcos, Texas), Dalton Shuffield (SS, 5-9, 150, San Antonio, Texas) and John Wutrich (OF, 5-11, 175, Midland, Texas).