Baseball | 3/23/2017 8:00:00 AM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team recently wrapped up a 13-game homestand and will now hit the road for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Appalachian State. The Bobcats (13-8, 2-1 SBC) and Mountaineers (10-11, 1-2 SBC) will play March 24-26 at Beaver Field in Boone, North Carolina.
 
The Bobcats are riding high at the moment after earning four wins over the past week against three teams who have won national championships in the last 13 years (Rice, Coastal Carolina, Texas). They are 10-2 in the month of March and most recently defeated Texas at home for the first time in school history. App has posted a 4-2 record in its last six outings, which includes a 1-2 series loss at Louisiana and a midweek home victory over Radford. The Mountaineers have only played twice at home this season, while the Bobcats have been on the road for just one series in 2017.

Series Info: Texas State at Appalachian State
Site: Beaver Field - Boone, N.C.
Dates: Friday, March 24 – Saturday, March 25
Time: Friday – 4 pm LIVE STATS | Saturday – 1 pm LIVE STATS | Saturday – 5 pm LIVE STATS
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM (first and second games only)
All-Time Record: TXST leads 6-0
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #41 RHP Connor Reich (1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. #11 Travis Holden (1-3, 5.34 ERA)
Saturday: #18 LHP Wes Engle (2-0, 3.68 ERA) vs. #21 LHP Colin Schmid (3-2, 1.91 ERA)
Sunday: #36 RHP Nicholas Fraze (2-1, 6.84 ERA) vs. #32 RHP Luke Watts (1-1, 3.30 ERA)

'CATS SHATTER ATTENDANCE MARK, TOPPLE UT 11-10 IN EXTRAS
Texas State defeated Texas 11-10 in 10 innings on March 11 inside Bobcat Ballpark. The win was the first all-time for the Bobcats at home against UT, and it also set a new all-time attendance mark of 3,017 fans. After battling back to tie the game on four different occasions, the Bobcats were finally able to take their first lead in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 10th. The game-winning hit came off the bat of Luke Sherley, who's single to shallow right center drove in sophomore Ryan Newman and set the record crowd into a frenzy. This was the fourth walkoff hit of the season for TXST (Purdue, Feb. 18 / Richmond, March 5 / Coastal Carolina, March 17). Sherley went 4-for-5 to tie for a career-high in hits. He recorded hits in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings. He also drove in a career-high four runs and scored in both the eighth and ninth frames. Jaylen Hubbard registered a career-high in hits (4-for-5), and Jacob Almendarez went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Theodore Hoffman went 2-for-6 with two runs scored, and Newman scored three times. Blake Walden (5-0) earned the win on the mound and is now tied for the nation's lead in that category. He threw the final 2.2 frames and gave up just one run on two hits, while striking out two. Junior Cam Baird started the contest and logged the first 4.0 frames. He conceded three runs (two earned) on five hits, while striking out three. Senior Brandon Courville, sophomore Anthony Pagano and true freshmen Zachary Leigh and Shane Daughety also saw time on the mound.
 
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.
 
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.

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.