SAN MARCOS, Texas – The 2026 baseball season starts this weekend for Texas State with a three-game series against Niagara at Bobcat Ballpark. It is the 16th consecutive year that the Bobcats will open a new campaign at home.
 
Friday's season opener is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch with Saturday's contest to begin at 2:30 p.m. The series finale on Sunday will start at 1 p.m.
 
Both Friday's and Sunday's games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: TXST RHP Kyle Froehlich vs. NIA RHP Carter Fink
Saturday: TXST LHP Nolan Moore vs. NIA RHP Nate Bennett
Sunday: TXST LHP Jesus Tovar vs. NIA RHP Gage Wheaton
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Texas State is coming off its second straight 27-win season with five of the victories being against ranked opponents. The team was picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll with a roster featuring 22 newcomers.
 
Chase Mora was named to the all-conference preseason team at third base after pacing the Bobcats with a .286 batting average, eight home runs, 44 RBI and 44 runs. He enters the year six homers shy of breaking the program's career record that is held by Paul Goldschmidt.
 
Other key returners in the field are Coy DeFury (.284, 5 HR, 19 RBI), Rashawn Galloway (11 H, 5 RBI), Zachary Gingrich (4 HR, 3 3B, 15 RBI) and Dawson Park (19 RBI, 2 SB).
 
Slated to start on opening day on Friday is Kyle Froehlich, a transfer from Division II program UT Tyler where he was a D2 Baseball All-American Third Team honoree. Nolan Moore will get the ball on Saturday and would be the first freshman to start on the rubber opening weekend since 2017. Rounding out the rotation on Sunday will be Jesus Tovar, who went 3-7 with a 6.21 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 66.2 innings last season.
 
ABOUT NIAGARA
Niagara compiled a 19-28 record last season including going 14-16 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Purple Eagles were picked to finish eighth out of 13 teams in the conference's preseason poll.
 
Five key returners offensively led by Curtis McKay. He led the team with a .314 average, 18 doubles and 47 RBI while hitting 10 home runs. Jason Green (.270 AVG) smacked a team-high 13 home runs while driving in 41 runs while Rees Kozar (.275) had six homers and 26 RBI. Elijha Hammill stole a team-high 14 bases and Nate Milk hit six homers and scored 33 runs.
 
It will be three right-handers that Niagara sends out to start on the mound beginning with Carter Fink (2-1, 4.91 ERA, 15 K) on Friday. Following him will be Nate Bennet (3-8, 8.74 ERA, 36 K) and Gage Wheaton (1-5, 11.53 ERA, 41 K) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
 
SERIES VS. PURPLE EAGLES
This weekend will be the first-ever meeting between Texas State and Binghamton. It will be the eighth consecutive year that the Bobcats will face an opponent for the first time to open a season. The only previous meetings against teams from the MAAC were Marist (2005) and Siena (2009) at neutral sites.
 
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