Baseball | 3/20/2017 5:30:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team will look to earn another marquee victory when the team plays host to Texas at 6:05 p.m. March 21 at Bobcat Ballpark.

TXST (12-8) is coming off a week where the maroon and gold snapped an eight-game losing streak to Rice and took two out of three from the reigning national champion and No. 20-ranked Coastal Carolina. Texas (13-9) picked up a midweek triumph over Texas A&M but was swept at home to Texas Tech over a weekend Big 12 Conference series.
 
Texas leads the all-time series 44-10, and the Longhorns are 4-0 all-time against the Bobcats in San Marcos. Texas State has already sold out general admission tickets for the contest, and standing-room only tickets are all that remain for a game that could potentially break the TXST all-time attendance record. That record of 2,776 was set against the Longhorns on March 1 of last year. Four of the five largest attendance marks in school history have been when the Bobcats were playing host to the Longhorns.
 
The game will be broadcast regionally on Spectrum Sports Channel 323, and Kit McConnico (play-by-play) and Kelly Wunsch (color analyst) will be on the call.

Series Info: Texas at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Tuesday, March 21
Time: 6:05 pm
TV: Spectrum Sports
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM
All-Time Record: Texas leads 44-10
 
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Tuesday: #32 RHP Cam Baird (0-2, 6.48 ERA) vs. #32 LHP Nick Kennedy (3-0, 0.75 ERA)

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.

SPECTRUM SPORTS TO BROADCAST 5 HOME TXST BASEBALL GAMES
Spectrum Sports and Texas State Sports Properties recently announced that five home Texas State baseball games have been selected to air on Spectrum Sports in Texas this season. The first game was against Rice, and TXST defeated the Owls 13-4. The Bobcats' March 18 game against Coastal Carolina will also be shown regionally, followed by a March 21 contest against Texas. The other two opponents chosen for TV were Texas A&M (March 28) and UTA (May 18). Texas State games on Spectrum Sports are available on channel 323 in Texas. More information is available at myspectrumsports.com. Texas State Sports Properties oversees all aspects related to Texas State Athletics' rights, as well as the Texas State Bobcat Sports Network. In addition to Texas State, Learfield manages the multimedia rights for 120 collegiate properties and titles the prestigious Learfield Directors' Cup with award co-founders NACDA and USA Today. Learfield's multimedia rights encompass numerous content distribution platforms to deliver the passion of college athletics across radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. For more about the company, its 41-year history and comprehensive portfolio, visit learfieldsports.com.
 
BOBCATS VANQUISH REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Texas State won two out of three games against Coastal Carolina to open Sun Belt Conference action March 17-19. The Chanticleers were ranked No. 20 in the nation at the time and are the reigning NCAA champions. The Bobcats won the first game 5-4 in 14 innings thanks in large part to a walkoff home run from sophomore Ryan Newman. CCU was narrowly able to even the series with a 4-3 victory March 18, but Texas State used a five-run seventh inning in the series finale to win 10-7 and snatch the series from the visitors. Newman and junior Luke Sherley both had six hits against Coastal Carolina, and they combined to score seven times. Junior Blake Walden threw 3.0 innings of relief to earn the victory on the mound in the opener, and sophomore Brayden Theriot tossed the final 3.2 frames to collect the win in the finale. The two relievers combined to allow no runs on two hits, while striking out three each. This was the first time Texas State ever hosted the defending national champions.
 
TXST ENDS DROUGHT AGAINST RICE
Texas State defeated Rice 13-4 on March 15 at Bobcat Ballpark. The Bobcats picked up their first midweek victory of the season and also snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Owls that dated back to the 2012 season. Texas State plated solo tallies in each of the first two innings, and the visitors tied the game at 2-2 with runs of their own in the top of the third and fourth frames. The maroon and gold busted the game open with a seven-spot in the home half of the fourth and added another four runs the rest of the way to secure the nine-run triumph. The runs in the fourth inning were the most scored in a single frame this season. TXST outhit Rice 14-9 and also did not commit an error in the field. Sophomore Jacob Almendarez led the Bobcats at the plate with a 3-for-5 effort. He scored once and tied his career high with two runs driven in. Juniors Luke Sherley and Derek Scheible, along with sophomores Ryan Newman and Jaylen Hubbard all had two hits. Junior Cam Baird earned the starting nod on the mound and left after allowing just two runs on five hits in 3.2 frames. He struck out four and walked two. True freshman Broc Bosse (1-0) earned the first win of his career after sitting down both batters he faced in relief.

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 17 home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,479, which is good for 31st in the nation.