SAN MARCOS, Texas – The 2019 season begins at Bobcat Ballpark for the Texas State baseball team with the Texas State Tournament. The Bobcats will open with Utah at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on Nevada and 24-ranked Missouri State on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
 
Saturday's game against the Wolf Pack is scheduled to begin a 4 p.m. while Sunday's contest is slated for a 3 p.m. start time.
 
All of TXST's games will be broadcast on KTSW 89.9 FM with Brant Freeman on the call. Every game will be streamed through Texas State All-Access.
 
Scouting Texas State
Texas State is coming off a 30-28-1 season that included its third consecutive trip to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Returning are 19 players from last year including the entire weekend rotation of Nicholas Fraze, Zachary Leigh and Connor Reich. Other pitchers that return include Kyle Bradford, Brandon Lewis and Brayden Theriot.
 
Fraze and Reich are slated to get the start on the rubber Friday and Sunday, respectively. On tap to start Saturday's contest is Hunter McMahon, a transfer from Coffeyville Community College.
 
The positional players features a lot of new faces with only four starters returning. Manning the corners are seniors Jaylen Hubbard and Ryan Newman while Jacob Almendarez will be in center field. Dalton Shuffield will get time at shortstop after playing mostly in left field and as the designated hitter last year.
 
Behind the plate, senior Jacob Almendarez will get the first look to replace Jared Huber. Pushing the Pearland, Texas native are freshmen Peyton Lewis and Colton Moore.
 
Scouting Utah
Utah is coming off a 16-39 season and finished 8-22 in the Pac-12 Conference. The Utes were picked to finish last in the 11-team league with 14 points, a point behind Washington State for 10th-place.
 
Oliver Dunn was second on the team in hitting (.319) and RBIs (31) in 2018. The second baseman stole nine bases on his way to being named All-Pac 12 honorable mention. The most experience Ute is Chandler Anderson, who has played in 120 games, 85 of them starts. The outfield owns a .274 career batting average after hitting .243 last year while swiping eight bags.
 
Utah will be buoyed by the return of catcher Zack Moeller after missing the 2018 campaign because of Tommy John surgery. The redshirt junior batted .265 and was second on the squad with five home runs and 11 doubles in 2017.
 
Scheduled to take the mound on Friday against TXST is Kyle Robenoil. The left-hander went 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 23.0 innings over eight appearances including four starts last season. He struck out 21, walked nine and held opponents to a .256 batting average.
 
Scouting Nevada
Nevada won the Mountain West Conference regular season title last year before being quickly eliminated in the conference tournament to finish with a 29-24 overall mark. The Wolf Pack were picked to finish second in the coaches' preseason poll with 29 points and two first-place votes. They edged out Fresno State (1 first-place vote) by a point and were four points back of San Diego State, which received four first-place selection.
 
Right-hander Jake Jackson was Nevada's lone preseason all-conference selection on the mound. He compiled an 8-4 record with a 5.42 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 15 starts.
 
In the field, Kaleb Foster and Joshua Zamora were All-MWC preseason picks. Foster had a breakout season with a .310 average, six home runs and 20 RBIs after hitting below the Mendoza line hits first two collegiate seasons. Zamora led the team with a .355 batting average and belted nine home runs at third base. The duo account for a third of the returning positional players for the Wolf Pack.
 
Scouting Missouri State
Missouri State finished 40-17 overall, won the Missouri Valley Conference with an 18-3 record and reached the NCAA Oxford Regional. The Bears were narrowly favored to win the MVC again in the preseason poll, totaling 59 points and five first-place votes while Dallas Baptist picked up 58 points and two first-place selections. In the national preseason polls, MSU was ranked 24th by Collegiate Baseball, 36th by NCBWA and received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
 
Both Drew Millas and Connor Sechler were preseason All-America picks by Collegiate Baseball and named to the MVC Preseason All-Conference Team. Millas, a catcher, led the Bears in hitting (.321), hits (68) and RBIs (61). Sechler, a sophomore, anchored MSU's bullpen with eight saves and a 2.98 ERA while striking out 59 in 54.1 innings. He was also named to the initial NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
 
Slated to get the start against Texas State is Alex Moore. A 6-foot, 8-inch sophomore, he sat out last season due to injury. As a freshman, the Mountain Grove, Missouri native compiled a 2.61 ERA over 10.1 innings with seven strikeouts out of the bullpen.
 
All-Time Series vs. Opponents
Friday will be the first-ever meeting between Texas State and Utah.
 
Nevada is 3-1 all-time against the Bobcats. The last time the teams met was a three-game series in San Marcos from Apr. 8-10, 2016. The Wolf Pack won the first two contests before TXST took the series finale 3-2. On May 23, 1997, the teams met for the first time in Lubbock, Texas in a NCAA Regional game that saw Nevada come away with a 7-1 victory.
 
Missouri State won the only two games against Texas State. Both of them took place at Bobcat Ballpark as part of a tournament. The Bears first win was a 12-8 contest on Feb. 19, 2011 and the second was a 3-2 score in the season opener for both teams on Feb. 15, 2013.
 
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