Baseball | 3/27/2017 4:21:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team returns home for a six-game homestand after sweeping a road Sun Belt Conference series in North Carolina against Appalachian State. The Bobcats will play host to Texas A&M at 6:05 p.m. March 28 in a game that will be regionally broadcast on Spectrum Sports Channel 323. General admission tickets are already sold out, with limited standing-room only tickets still available.
 
The Bobcats (16-8) are riding high at the moment with a 13-2 record in March. During that span, they have defeated three teams who have won national championships in the last 13 years (Rice, Coastal Carolina, Texas). They also had a seven-day stretch where they earned four wins in games where they trailed in the seventh inning or later. Texas A&M (16-9) is 2-6 in its last eight outings, including suffering two losses at Vanderbilt this past weekend.

Series Info: Texas A&M at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Tuesday, March 28
Time: 6:05 pm
TV: Spectrum Sports / ESPN3
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM
All-Time Record: Texas A&M leads 42-13
 
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Tuesday: #32 RHP Cam Baird (0-2, 5.84 ERA) vs. #14 LHP John Doxakis (1-1, 5.32 ERA)

TEXAS STATE TO HELP RAISE COLON CANCER AWARENESS TUESDAY
The Texas State and Texas A&M baseball programs will wear blue laces in their matchup at 6 p.m. March 28 at Bobcat Ballpark to help raise awareness for colon cancer and to help benefit Kiel Colon Cancer. The mission of the organization is to decrease the number of preventable deaths caused by colon cancer through education and awareness initiative, encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and supporting colon cancer research. The founder of the organization, George Kiel III, is a Texas State graduate and played on the men's basketball team. For more information, visit kielcoloncancer.org.
 
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 were selected to air on Spectrum Sports in Texas this season. TXST defeated Rice 13-4 (March 15), lost to Coastal Carolina 4-3 (March 18) and toppled Texas 11-10 in 10 innings (March 21). 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.
 
'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.
 
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 18 home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,564, which is good for 34th in the nation.
 
THE 2017 SCHEDULE
The Bobcats are in the midst of a treacherous 2017 slate 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 playing 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 are 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). Of the first 30 games this season, 24 are scheduled to be played at home. Of the final 26 games, 17 will be played on the road.