Baseball | 3/9/2017 12:19:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team will face Alabama A&M in the first matchups in school history between the two programs. The Bobcats and Bulldogs are set for a three-game series that will be contested March 10-12 at Bobcat Ballpark.

AAMU sports a 4-11 record this season, while Texas State is 6-7. TXST will face three new opponents in 2017. The maroon and gold swept Richmond March 3-5 and will also play host to defending national champion Coastal Carolina March 17-19.

Series Info: Alabama A&M at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Dates: Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12
Time: Friday – 6 pm LIVE STATS | Saturday – 1 pm LIVE STATS | Sunday – 1 pm LIVE STATS
All-Time Record: First Meeting
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #11 LHP Anthony Pagano (1-1, 7.59 ERA) vs. #13 RHP Caleb Gay (0-1, 8.83 ERA)
Saturday: #18 LHP Wes Engle (1-0, 5.87 ERA) vs. #29 RHP Blaine Milam (2-1, 4.05 ERA)
Sunday: #36 RHP Nicholas Fraze (1-1, 9.24 ERA) vs. #7 RHP Fernando Diaz, Jr. (0-2, 12.21 ERA)

ORTEGA NAMED SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jonathan Ortega was selected as the Sun Belt Conference Community Coffee Player of the Week, the league announced on March 7. The sophomore infielder from Victoria, Texas, helped lead the Bobcats to a 3-1 record in games played from Feb. 27-March 5, which included a weekend sweep of Richmond. He had at least two hits in every game and finished with a .611 (11-for-18) average. He recorded clutch home runs in the first two games of the series with the Spiders, which marked the first time in his career he hit homers in back-to-back contests. In the second game with TXST trailing 4-2 in the eighth, he registered a two-out, full-count home run to give the Bobcats the lead in a game they would later win in extra innings. Ortega scored twice in every outing against Richmond and also added a run against Sam Houston State in the midweek contest. In the first game against the Spiders, he posted career highs in hits (5), RBIs (7) and doubles (2). He also stole a base in all four games and never struck out all week, while drawing three walks. This was the first weekly honor for a TXST player this season. Ortega picked up the second SBC accolade of his career (March 15, 2016), making him the first Texas State player to be selected as the league's top hitter on more than one occasion. The other two award winners have been former great Tanner Hill (March 19, 2015) and junior Luke Sherley (March 1, 2016). Ortega also earned College Sports Madness SBC Player of the Week honors, which does not have separate awards for hitters and pitchers.
 
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.
 
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 eight home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,553, which is good for 29th in the nation.