Baseball | 5/15/2017 1:24:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team is set to play its final road game of the season when the Bobcats head to Houston for a date with Rice. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. May 16 from Reckling Park.
 
TXST (25-27, 11-16 SBC) is coming off its fourth-straight series loss after dropping two out of three games at Louisiana. The Bobcats outscored UL 18-16 in the series and outhit the Ragin' Cajuns 30-20. Texas State is 7-15 on the road and 5-7 in midweek contests in 2017.
 
Rice (24-28, 14-13 Conference USA) began the season 13-25 but has since posted an 11-3 mark over its last 14 games. The Owls have won each of their last four league series, including road sweeps over Charlotte and Western Kentucky. They are 13-16 at home this season.

Series Info: Texas State at Rice
Site: Reckling Park – Houston, Texas
Dates: Tuesday, May 16
Time: 6:30 pm
Radio: KTSW 89.9 FM
All-Time Record: Rice leads 52-14

Probable Pitching Matchup
Tuesday: #17 RHP Brandon Courville (2-3, 5.91 ERA) vs. #23 LHP Evan Kravetz (2-1, 5.68 ERA)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Texas State baseball lost 4-3 to Louisiana in a Sun Belt Conference series finale Sunday afternoon at Russo Park. Texas State outscored Louisiana 18-16 for the weekend and outhit the Ragin' Cajuns 30-20. The Bobcats outhit UL in every game, which was the first time since April 26-30 of last year that Louisiana was outhit in three-straight games. The Bobcats scored once in each of the first two innings to take the first lead of the game for the third day in a row. Louisiana plated four in the bottom of the fourth frame, and that would be all the home team would need to fend off TXST. Theodore Hoffman led the Bobcats with a 3-for-4 effort and an RBI. The three runs came from Jacob Almendarez, Jonathan Ortega and Jaylen Hubbard. Dylan Paul recorded a ground-rule double in the eighth to extend his career-best hitting streak to a team-high 13 games. Cam Baird (1-6) suffered the loss after conceding four runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. Joe Powell, Connor Reich and Broc Bosse did not allow a hit across the final two frames. No member of the Ragin' Cajuns had more than one hit. Only Steven Sensley finished with multiple RBIs, as he had a pair.
 
BOBCATS SECURE SPOT IN 2017 SBC CHAMPIONSHIP
TXST is currently 11-16 in league play and sits in a tie for seventh place in the SBC standings. If the season were to end today, the Bobcats would be one of four teams to play an opening-round, single-elimination game on May 23. They would face current No. 8 seed Arkansas State for the right to advance to the main double-elimination bracket. This weekend's opponent, UTA, is currently leading the West Division and would receive a bye past the opening round. The top six currently includes South Alabama, UTA, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, and Troy. The teams slated to compete in the two play-in games are Little Rock, Arkansas State, Texas State and Appalachian State. Georgia State and ULM are presently on the outside looking in.
 
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 will 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 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 30 home games of this season, TXST has an average attendance of 1,506, which is good for 40th 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. With three games left in the home schedule, the Bobcats have already welcomed a school-record 45,172 fans.
 
SPECTRUM SPORTS TO BROADCAST 5 HOME TXST BASEBALL GAMES
Spectrum Sports and Texas State Sports Properties announced March 17 that five home Texas State baseball games were selected to air on Spectrum Sports in Texas this season. TXST is currently 2-2 in those games, having defeated Rice 13-4 (March 15) and Texas 11-10 in 10 innings (March 21). The Bobcats lost to Coastal Carolina 4-3 (March 18) and Texas A&M 9-3 (March 28). The final broadcast for TXST will be against UTA on 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.

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.
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-