THE GAMES
Tarleton Baseball is set to return home to the friendly confines of the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex for a four-game series against Oklahoma Christian in Stephenville this weekend. The format will be 1-2-1, which includes a Saturday doubleheader of back-to-back seven inning affairs. The series will begin Friday at 2 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday's games starting at 1 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for Tarleton Baseball games are available in advance and at the gate. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth (ages 8-18). Children (ages 7 and under) and Tarleton students with a valid ID will receive free admission. Advanced ticket sales are available at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. All seating is general admission.
 
GAME COVERAGE
There will be live stats and video available for the games, courtesy of the home team. Links to live stats can be found at the links on the Game Day preview story and Game Day graphics on Tarleton's Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as on the baseball schedule page at TarletonSports.com.
 
IN THE NCBWA RANKINGS
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association puts out a weekly regional and national ranking. In the latest weekly regional rankings, which are voted on by NCBWA members and have no bearing on the NCAA regional rankings that affect postseason play, Tarleton checked in as the No. 9-ranked team in the South Central region. Tarleton received 18 votes in the regional media poll, which is two more than No. 10 Colorado State-Pueblo and six votes behind Colorado Mines at No. 8.
 
CONFERENCE PLAY RIGHT OFF THE BAT
For the first time in program history, Tarleton will be playing a closed conference schedule. With the addition of seven new baseball teams to the Lone Star Conference – bringing the total to 14 – every series of the season will count towards the Lone Star Conference standings.
 
THE NEW-LOOK LONE STAR
The Lone Star Conference has doubled its amount of baseball teams following its expansion to becoming the largest NCAA Division II conference in the country. The LSC, which has 19 total members, now boasts 14 members that sponsor NCAA Division II baseball. New member Dallas Baptist sponsors NCAA Division I baseball and will not compete in the Lone Star. The LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games. The LSC Championship will be a two-week tournament featuring eight teams with the opening round on campus on May 1-2. The winners of each opening round series will advance to The Depot in Cleburne, Texas for a double-elimination tournament that will be played May 7-9. The winner of the postseason tournament will be recognized as the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.
 
ABOUT THE TEXANS
Tarleton is coming off a 3-1 road trip out to Eastern New Mexico last weekend and are currently 8-6 this year under first-year head coach Aaron Meade. The Texans are currently sitting in sixth place in the Lone Star Conference standings as one of six teams in the league boasting a record over .500 through the first 14 games. Tarleton is hitting .312 as a team, which is the third highest in the conference. Blake Burns' .510 batting average is also the third highest individual average in the league. The Texan pitching staff is sixth in the LSC with a 4.58 team ERA, led by Luke Baley's 1.15 ERA in 15.2 innings.
 
ABOUT OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
Oklahoma Christian University (OC) is a private Christian university in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US. It was founded in 1950. This is OC's first season in the Lone Star Conference and the Eagles are currently 4-10 after winning three of four last weekend against Texas A&M International in Laredo and taking the series finale against UT Tyler Monday. As a team, Oklahoma Christian is hitting .280 and have a team ERA of 7.63.
 
ONE FOR THE TROPHY CASE
Tarleton head coach Aaron Meade earned his first career victory as the lead man in the dugout on Friday, February 7 in a 10-0 shutout of UT Permian Basin in Stephenville. Justin Waltmon threw a complete game shutout in the win.
 
BURNS ON FIRE
Over the last three series, Blake Burns has established himself as one of the premier offensive weapons in all of NCAA Division II baseball. The senior slugger from Keller is hitting .561 over Tarleton's last 11 games – leading the team to an 8-3 record over that span – as well as racking up six home runs and 21 RBI. He's coming off a series at Eastern New Mexico where he hit .615 against the Greyhounds. He was named the LSC Hitter of the Week after the UT Permian Basin series.
 
THE GROVE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
Blake Burns was named The Grove Male Student-Athlete of the Month for February Thursday morning. Burns has been one of the best hitters in all of NCAA Division II baseball over the first month of the season. The Texans went 8-5 during the month of the February with Burns hitting .511. The senior from Keller has gone 24-for-47 over the last 13 games with six home runs and 21 RBI, including a nine RBI performance against UT Permian Basin that garnered him an LSC Player of the Week honor. His nine RBI against UTPB on February 8 ties him for the second-most RBI in a single game in program history.
 
HOT HITTERS
Over the last 11 games, Tarleton has three different Texans with at least 30 at bats who are hitting over .440 – Burns (.561), Corey Young (.452) and Luke Morton (.441).
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
This is the first meeting all-time between Tarleton and Oklahoma Christian.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will hit the road for the first weekend of March to play four games in Lawton, Oklahoma against Cameron. The Texans and Aggies will open the series on Friday, March 6 at 3 p.m.