| GAME DAY INFORMATION |
| When: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 13-14, 2015 | 3 p.m. & 1 p.m. |
| Where: San Antonio, Texas | Dickson Stadium |
| TSU Game 1 Probable Starter: Matt Herrick (1-0; 3.60 ERA) |
| TSU Game 2 Probable Starter: Kyle Gottardy (0-0; 6.24 ERA) |
| TSU Game 3 Probable Starter: Colton Burleson (0-0; 4.50 ERA) |
| Series History: Texans trail 14-35 all-time | Streak: TSU, Won 1 |
| Last Game: TSU 8, STMU 4 on February 6, 2015 in Houston |
| FOLLOW THE ACTION |
| Web Stream: RattlerAthletics.com |
| Social Media: Facebook | Twitter |
| Live Stats | Tickets |
THE GAMES
Tarleton State will get back on the diamond this weekend for a three-game road series against No. 38 St. Mary's in San Antonio. The Texans will take the field Friday at 3 p.m. for a single game and wrap up the series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
THE SERIES
Friday's series opener marks the 50th all-time meeting between these teams since Tarleton State and St. Mary's began the rivalry in 1992. Over the first 49 meetings in the last 23 years, Tarleton has won 14 against the Rattlers, including seven in San Antonio and the first meeting between the teams on a neutral site in Houston earlier this season.
THE OPPONENT
St. Mary's is off to a 3-2 start to the season after opening the 2015 campaign ranked No. 38 by the National College Baseball Writers Association. The Rattlers went 2-2 at Minute Maid Park last weekend with losses to Tarleton State and No. 22 Central Missouri. They rebounded Tuesday with a 12-2 home win against Houston-Victoria. Brooks Orton leads the Rattlers offensively with a .591 batting average and 10 RBIs in the first five games while Garrett McKenzie and Oscar Sepulveda lead the team with identical 1.80 ERAs from the bump.
LAST TIME OUT
The last time Tarleton took the field, the Texans suffered a late-inning defeat at the hands of No. 17 Arkansas Tech.
Colton Burleson earned his first start of the season and went the first two innings before
Trevor Renfro,
Eythan Lenz,
John Kresta and
Cole Foster relieved him. Foster took the loss after allowing a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Texan offense put up five runs courtesy of a Schmitz RBI and a career-high 3 RBIs from
Zach Fleet.
STARTING 2-0
Tarleton won the first two games of the season for the first time since 2012 and the third time under head coach
Bryan Conger.
COUNTDOWN TO 200
Head coach
Bryan Conger enters this weekend's series with 185 career victories as the head coach of the Texans. He is 15 away from reaching the 200 mark that only Tarleton Hall of Fame coach, Jack Allen, has eclipsed since Tarleton reinstated baseball in 1988. Conger has the second-most wins in Tarleton's new-era history behind Allen (565) and ahead of his immediate predecessor, Trey Felan (145).
TEXAN LSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Tarleton State's
Jonathan Schmitz and
Eythan Lenz were honored last week for their efforts at the Houston Winter Invitational Tournament at Minute Maid Park. Schmitz had a multi-hit game in all four contests at Minute Maid, including a 3-3 effort in the season opener against Winona State. For the week, Schmitz scored six runs and is hitting an LSC-leading .667. He also has 10 hits, three RBIs and two doubles. Lenz tossed four scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out five. He also earned the win for Tarleton in Friday's victory over No. 38 St. Mary's with 2.2 innings of work with four strikeouts against the Rattlers. His four innings was one inning short of the team leader for last weekend (5.0).
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will make their home debut at Cecil Ballow Baseball Field in Stephenville next weekend for a four-game series with Texas A&M International, beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
