Baseball | 3/14/2017 12:01:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team is set to enter one of its toughest stretches of the season over the next five games, as the Bobcats will play host to three perennial powerhouses who have all won national championships over the past 14 years.

First on the docket will be a meeting with Rice at 6:05 p.m. March 15. TXST will then play host to defending national champion Coastal Carolina March 17-19 before welcoming Texas March 22. Three of those five contests will be broadcast regionally on Spectrum Sports, including the upcoming tilt against the Owls. Lincoln Rose (play-by-play) and Kelly Wunsch (color analyst) will be on the call.
 
Rice is 6-11 on the year and will host Sam Houston State on March 14 before traveling to San Marcos. The Owls own an eight-game win streak over the Bobcats dating back to 2012. Texas State (9-7) is also looking for its first midweek victory of the season.

Series Info: Rice at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark - San Marcos, Texas
Date: Wednesday, March 15
Time: 6:05 pm
TV: Spectrum Sports
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM
All-Time Series: Rice leads 52-13

Probable Pitching Matchup
Wednesday: #32 RHP Cam Baird (0-2, 7.71 ERA) vs. Staff Day
 
STUDENT TICKETING POLICIES ANNOUNCED FOR UT, TAMU MATCHUPS
The Texas State Athletics Ticket Office has announced student admission policies for upcoming marquee TXST home baseball matchups against Texas and Texas A&M. The Bobcats are slated to welcome UT at 6 p.m. March 21 and TAMU at 6 p.m. March 28. Reserved seating tickets for both games are sold out. However, a limited number of General Admission and Standing Room Only tickets are still available for $12. Students will still gain free entrance to the games, but they will not be able to pick up tickets prior to the date of either contest. They will need to show their valid Texas State student ID at the entrance to Bobcat Ballpark once the gates open at 4:30 p.m. on each respective game day just as they would for any other Texas State home athletic event. The first 500 students will be presented a ticket and allowed to sit in the stands. Any remaining students will be allowed to swipe their ID and enter the Standing Room Only sections until capacity is reached. This policy will only be in effect for the Texas and Texas A&M games. Standing Room Only is located down both the left (beyond the home dugout) and right (beyond the caboose) field lines outside of the barricades. For more information, contact the ticket office at 512.245.2272, email gametickets@txstate.edu or visit the Mark & Linda Smith Athletic Ticket Office on the northeast side of Bobcat Stadium.
 
TXST TOPPLES NATIONALLY-RANKED FOE
Texas State earned a hard-fought 12-11 upset victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State on Feb. 25 at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. The Bobcats never trailed in the game but had to fend off three separate Cowboy comebacks. Junior Blake Walden (2-0) earned the win on the mound after throwing the final 1.2 innings. He allowed one run on two hits. Sophomore Wes Engle took the ball first and left after 4.0 frames. He struck out five, walked four and gave up three runs on two hits. Senior Joe Powell, junior Braden Pearson, sophomore Brandon Lewis and true freshman Zachary Leigh all logged time on the mound between Engle and Walden. Junior Derek Scheible went 4-for-5 at the plate and tied the school record by scoring five times. He also registered a career-high four runs batted in to go along with a career high in hits. Junior Dylan Paul went 3-for-5 with three RBI and one run scored, and sophomore Jonathan Ortega finished 3-for-6 with an RBI. Sophomore Jacob Almendarez went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Overall, Texas State outhit Oklahoma State 17-11.
 
BOBCATS BOAST TOP ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
Since the NCAA began tracking attendance figures in 2014, Texas State has boasted the second-best attendance in the Sun Belt Conference. From 2014-16, the Bobcats welcomed 120,802 (1,328/game) patrons to Bobcat Ballpark. During the first 13 home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,454, which is good for 29th in the nation.
 
THE 2017 SLATE
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.