SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State baseball's 2023 Leadoff Dinner sponsored by Werner's Catering will be held on Feb. 4 and will feature former Major League Baseball pitcher Jake Arrieta as the guest speaker.
 
The dinner will be held at the LBJ Student Center Ballroom on the campus of Texas State University. The cocktail social mixer begins at 6:15 p.m. with the dinner portion of the event starting at 7 p.m.
 
Tickets for the Leadoff Dinner are currently on sale with individual seats available for $100 and a full table of eight guests for $800.
 
Table sponsorships are also available for $500 which includes marketing through social media platforms, company name featured on sponsored table, recognition at the dinner and 10 tickets to any home game, excluding the contest against Texas. Contact Joseph Hill at jah434@txstate.edu or 806-543-0288 for more information or to purchase a sponsorship.
 
The Leadoff Dinner is the apex of alumni weekend. Patrons will have the opportunity to watch SWT/TXST alumni take the field in the annual alumni game earlier during the day on Feb. 4 at Bobcat Ballpark.
 
Arrieta, a former teammate of Texas State head coach Steven Trout at TCU, played 12 seasons in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. He won the 2015 National League Cy Young award with the Cubs after going 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, four complete games, three shutouts and striking out a career-high 236.
 
In his career, he twice threw a no-hitter with the first coming on Aug. 30, 2015 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the second being on Apr. 21, 2016 on the road versus the Cincinnati Reds. Arrieta earned the NL Silver Slugger award for a pitcher in 2016 after batting .262 with two home runs and seven RBI.
 
The 2016 campaign saw him help lead the Cubs to the World Series title to end the club's 108-year drought. Arrieta earned wins in Games 2 and 6 of the series, both of which came on the road in Cleveland.
 
A three-game series in Bobcat Ballpark against Northwestern on Feb. 23 will begin the 2023 season.
 
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