Baseball | 4/12/2017 12:03:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team will play host to ULM in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series April 13-15 at Bobcat Ballpark. In a change of pace due to the Easter holiday, the games are slated to be contested Thursday, Friday and Saturday instead of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will mark the third-consecutive year that TXST will host ULM, and the Bobcats are 5-1 over the Warhawks in those six games.
 
Texas State (20-14, 7-5 SBC) had a dominant run in March that saw the club post a historical 14-4 mark, but the maroon and gold has struggled since the beginning of April with just a 3-4 record. TXST has dropped each of its last two weekend series and is coming off a 9-2 midweek loss at Texas. The Bobcats are 15-9 at home this season.
 
The Warhawks (9-25, 4-8 SBC) are on a six-game slide after posting a 5-5 record once conference play began. ULM has won at least one game in all three weekend league series this season, including securing a two games to one triumph over Little Rock March 24-26.

Series Info: ULM at Texas State
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Dates: Thursday, April 13 – Saturday, April 15
Time: Thursday – 6 pm LIVE STATS | Friday – 6 pm LIVE STATS | Saturday – 1 pm LIVE STATS
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM
All-Time Record: TXST leads 40-31

Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday: #41 RHP Connor Reich (2-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. #12 RHP Josh Leone (1-4, 5.06 ERA)
Friday: #18 LHP Wes Engle (2-1, 5.23 ERA) vs. #51 RHP Chase Beal (3-3, 4.05 ERA)
Saturday: #36 RHP Nicholas Fraze (3-1, 4.70 ERA) vs. #35 RHP Keegan Curtis (1-3, 8.79 ERA)

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 24 home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,567, which is good for 29th in the nation. The Bobcats have also welcomed the two largest crowds in school history this year, with the record of 3,017 coming in a victory over Texas on March 21. There were also 2,952 who entered Bobcat Ballpark to watch Texas State take on Texas A&M March 28. Adding in games against Purdue (2,068) and Baylor (2,002), Texas State has already welcomed a school record four separate crowds of 2,000 or more fans this season. The previous school record of three 2K+ crowds was set in 2014.
 
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.

-TxStateBobcats.com-