The 2023 baseball season begins on Friday for Texas State against Northwestern. This is the second of three positional previews on the team covering outfielders and the designated hitter.
 
Outfielders
Entering the season, Jose Gonzalez and Ben McClain have left and center field locked down, respectively. Gonzalez is the top returning hitter with a .298 batting average and 13 home runs to go along with a team leading 70 RBI.
 
McClain made 44 starts in 2022 with 27 coming in center and the other 17 being in left. He finished the year hitting .281 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and three triples. The fifth-year senior also plated 35 runs and scored 42 times.
 
Right field is spot with open competition heading into the season with five guys vying for playing time out there. Competing for action is Kyle Atkinson, Carson Keithley, Coldon Kiser, Kameron Weil and Damien Whitfield.
 
"This gives us depth all over the press in case of injury or need to move guys around. We have a lot of different options, and it is just trying to figure it out as fast as we can," said head coach Steven Trout.
 
Atkinson came off the bench 13 times last year primarily as a pinch runner. He did finish 2-for-6 at the plate with his best performance coming in the 30-3 drubbing of Little Rock. That day saw him go 2-for-2 with three runs and two RBI.
 
Keithley is a two-way player that saw most of his action in 2022 on the mound. His lone plate appearances came in the 27-run victory over the Trojans that saw him go 2-for-3 with four RBI and hit a double.
 
Whitfield redshirted last season after suffering a season-ending injury in fall ball in preparation for last season.
 
Kiser is a true freshman from Lubbock, Texas and graduated from Frenship High School. He chosen to the Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American First Team his senior year. Over the course of his prep career, Kiser was a three-time all-state honoree.
 
Weil is a junior college transfer from Weatherford College that would bring speed to the lineup after swiping 43-of-49 attempts over the last two years. He also hit .330 (115-of-349) with 20 doubles, seven triples and two homers while driving in 41 runs and scoring 97 times.
 
Designated Hitter
With the depth at catcher, Trout see August Ramirez getting plenty of action at the spot. Also in contention will be guys competing for playing time in the infield when facing the Bobcats face a left-handed starter.
 
Ramirez went 24-for-77 (.312) at the plate over 27 games last season. He posted six multi-hit contests with a season-high three base knocks coming against Southern (Mar. 12) and the regular season finale at Georgia State.
 
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