THE GAMES
Tarleton (0-3, 0-3 LSC) will make its home debut in a three-game, weekend series against UT Permian Basin (1-2, 1-2 LSC) on Feb. 7-9. The series will include three nine-inning afternoon games – Friday (2 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (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.
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.
FINAL SET OF NINES
This weekend will be the last three-game series of the season in the LSC. All weekends moving forward will be four-game series in a 1-2-1 format – which means one game Friday, a 7/7 doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.
ABOUT THE TEXANS
Tarleton had a rough outing in the opening weekend at Tyler last weekend. The Texans suffered a sweep against the newest member of the Lone Star Conference.
Jordan Parker and
Blake Burns pace the offense with a .250 batting average. Parker drove in two RBI to lead the Texans. Starting pitchers
Justin Waltmon and
Hunter Thomas enjoyed strong debuts on the mound to begin the season. Tarleton is tied for 10th place in the LSC standings.
ABOUT UT PERMIAN BASIN
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin is a public university in Odessa, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTPB was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973. The Falcons joined the Lone Star Conference in 2016. The Falcons won the series opener at West Texas A&M last weekend before dropping the next two.
DEBUT FOR MEADE
Tarleton head coach
Aaron Meade will make his head coaching debut in Stephenville. A former assistant coach at Pitt State, Meade becomes the eighth head coach of the Texans in the modern era (since 1988). He was named the eighth head coach of the Texan Baseball program on July 23, 2019. Meade was a standout pitcher for Missouri State and was a 10th round draft pick of the LA Angels in the 2010 MLB Draft as a starting pitcher. Although only seven head coaches will have official records, Meade's brief predecessor Mike Sirianni was announced in May but was at Tarleton for only a month before accepting a position at Wichita State - opening the door for Meade's arrival.
FRESH FACES
Tarleton has 19 new additions to the 2020 active roster, including seven NCAA Division I transfers
Wade Raburn (New Orleans),
Dean Frew (TCU),
Luke Baley (Lamar),
Cody Vannoy (UTRGV),
Rhett Gallagher (Missouri),
Colby Feris (Houston) and
Devon Patel (Rutgers).
CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Luke Morton and
Tyler Fowler remain from Tarleton's 2018 LSC Tournament Championship season. Morton hit .250 and scored four runs in the LSC Tournament in 2018 while Fowler was an all-tournament selection after hitting .333 with two RBI and three runs scored against Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M in 2018.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Tarleton leads the all-time series against UT Permian Basin 16-5. All five of the Falcon wins in the series came in 2019. Prior to last season, Tarleton was undefeated against UT Permian Basin since the series began in 2011. Tarleton is 8-3 against the Falcons in Stephenville.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will remain at home for the second straight weekend to host Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first four-game series of the season. The series is scheduled to begin on Friday at 2 p.m. with a single game.
