STEPHENVILLE - The No. 25 Tarleton baseball team will welcome the RiverHawks of Northeastern State Friday and Saturday for a three-game Lone Star Conference series.

The Texans (25-7, 15-6) are on fire as of late, winning their last eight contests, while the RiverHawks (5-24, 4-21) have struggled, dropping seven of their last nine contests.

Tarleton is looking to get back in to LSC action after facing five straight non-conference opponents.  The Texans are currently first overall in the conference, while Northeastern State is the bottomdweller.

Overall, the Texans are hitting a .308 average as a team.  They also post a .477 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage.  Ethan Stuckly leads Tarleton with a .409 average, while collecting 47 hits, 28 RBI's and 16 extra-base hits.  Mark Jeffery has added 28 RBI's of his own to his .407 average and his .553 on-base percentage, the second-best total in the nation.  Chris Casazza provides the Texans with their power in the line-up, recording 12 home runs and driving in 30 runs so far this season.

Tarleton continues to lead the conference in fielding percentage with a .966 mark.

The pitching staff for the Texans has a combined ERA of 4.77, which is much better than opponents' 6.19 ERA against them.  Nathan Lewis leads the group with a 5-1 record to go along with a 4.14 ERA and 36 strikeouts.  Jake Sowell has been excellent out of the bullpen, picking up the last three wins for Tarleton in relief effforts.  He heads into the weekend series ith a 4-0 record in 16 appearances.  Closer Ryan Turner is the game-changer for the Texans with seven saves, 38 strikeouts, a 2.22 ERA and a 4-2 record.

Northeastern State has had a much more inconsistent season with a 5-24 record.  The RiverHawks post a .294 batting average, a .401 slugging percentage and a .376 on-base percentage.  Noah Ringenberger is the biggest offensive threat with a .383 average and 41 hits to add to his 14 RBI's.  David Zavala leads Northeastern with four home runs and is second with 19 RBI's, while Daniel Skelly has a team-high 20 runs driven in.

The RiverHawk pitching staff has been roughed up over the past few games, recording a 7.95 ERA on the year.  Miles Yarnell leads the way with a 4.08 ERA and a 1-0 record in 10 appearances, while Jake Avery and Chris Treibt both have sub-5.00 ERA's and wins out of the bullpen.  Noah Ringenberger not only leads the team in batting average, but also has both of the RiverHawks' saves.

First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, April 8, while the doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.

Live stats are available on TarletonSports.com.