SAN MARCOS, Texas – The 2022 season begins this weekend for the Texas State baseball team as it welcomes Utah Valley to town for a four-game series at Bobcat Ballpark. It will mark the 12th consecutive year the Bobcats have opened a campaign at home.
 
Friday's season opener begins at 6 p.m. followed by a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday with a 12 p.m. first pitch.
 
Games on Friday and Sunday will be streamed on ESPN+ with Brant Freeman and Ty Harrington on the call. Both of those contests can also be heard on KTSW 89.9 FM while live stats will be available for the entire series.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: RHP Zeke Wood vs. RHP Devin Smith
Saturday (GM 1): RHP Triston Dixon vs. LHP Cal Beardsley
Saturday (GM 2): RHP Levi Wells vs. RHP Mason Gray
Sunday: RHP Tony Robie vs. TBA
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats returns an offense that will be led by returning starters Jose Gonzalez, Dalton Shuffield, Justin Thompson and John Wuthrich. Thompson led the team with a .284 average and 37 RBI to go along with five home runs and nine doubles at the hot corner. Shuffield completed the season by scoring 29 runs and committing just one error at shortstop. Gonzalez smashed seven homers and recorded a team-high three triples while Wuthrich missed a good chunk of the season due to an injury, but he reached base safely in all 21 games he started.
 
Other players that look to fill big roles this season or bounce back from less that stellar seasons begins behind the plate with Peyton Lewis. The junior catcher hit .277 (18-for-65) with three doubles and home runs. Cameron Gibbons batted .229 and scored 10 runs looks to slot in at second base. First base was an open competition with Wesley Faison (.165, 2 HR), Gonzalez and freshman Daylan Pena battling for playing time. Ben McClain (.246, 16 R), Isaiah Ortega-Jones (.216, 8 RBI) and freshmen Kyle Atkinson and Damien Whitfield are competing for time in the outfield.
 
Getting the first crack as the Friday night starter is Zeke Wood. The right-hander started 14 games last season, going 3-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 62.2 innings and struck out 56. Triston Dixon (0-2, 1 SV) made a jump during the offseason and will start the first game on Saturday. Texas Tech transfer Levi Wells gets the ball for second game of the twin bill. Tony Robie is scheduled to take the rubber to start Sunday's finale and is coming off a season in which he made six starts.
 
ABOUT UTAH VALLEY
Utah Valley went 10-47 last season and dropped nine of its last 10 games. The Wolverines are now under the direction of first-year head coach Eddie Smith, who served the previous two years at LSU as its hitting coach.
 
Mitch Moralez led UVU with a .274 average, 62 hits, 28 runs and five stolen bases in 2021. He is also the top returner in doubles (8), home runs (4) and RBI (25). Mick Madsen hit .266 with 24 runs and Garrett Broussard drove in 19 runs.
 
Righty-hander Devin Smith will be handed the ball on Friday. He appeared in 19 games last year with one start to post a 1-3 record, two saves, a 10.22 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. Cal Beardsley, a transfer from Little Rock, is slated to start the first game of Saturday's twin bill. The lefty went 0-2 with a 9.15 ERA in 22 games, including five starts, in his two-year career with the Trojans. The evening starter on Saturday will be Mason Gray, a right-hander hurler that went 3-7 with a 5.70 ERA in 71.0 innings with 62 strikeouts over 14 starts. Sunday's start is still to be announced.
 
SERIES VS. WOLVERINES
This weekend will be the first-ever meeting between Texas State and Utah Valley. It will be the second year in-a-row that the Bobcats open the year against a Utah-based program after hosting BYU last season. The Wolverines are also the third team from the Beehive State to face TXST joining Utah and the Cougars.
 
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