THE MATCHUP
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (3-4, 0-0 WAC) vs. Washington State Cougars (5-3, 0-0 Pac-12)
 
Dates & Times: 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday March 2. 

Location: Tarleton Baseball Complex in Stephenville, Texas.
 
TEXAN BASEBALL GAME DAY
The Tarleton Texan baseball team is back for a midweek bout with Washington State following an 8-3 victory on Tuesday over Eastern Illinois.
 
The Texans welcome the Cougars to the Tarleton Baseball Complex for a game under the lights. The Texans play three straight Power Five schools in a row with the Cougars, a series at Missouri this weekend, and a midweek clash with Texas A&M the following week.
 
GAME COVERAGE & TICKETS
Fans can access a live stream of the game at wacdigitalnetwork.com. All that is required is to create an account. Links to the stream as well as live stats can be found on the baseball schedule page on TarletonSports.com. Fans can purchase season or individual game tickets online at TarletonSports.com/Tickets, by going to the baseball schedule page and following the links, or by purchasing them in person at the Tarleton Athletic Ticket Office on the west side of Memorial Stadium.
 
SERIES NOTES
•  Tarleton opens the month of March with a couple of games against Power 5 opponents. They host Washington State for a Wednesday night bout before heading to Columbia, Missouri for a three-game series against the Missouri Tigers.
•  The Texans have never faced off with either opponent in program history.
•  Washington State will be the second ever Power 5 opponent to play at the Tarleton Baseball Complex, with TCU taking down the Texans 13-9 on April 6, 2021, in Stephenville.
•  Tarleton projected starting pitchers for the week are, Wednesday: RHP Isiah Campa, Friday: RHP Bryce Hackett, Saturday: RHP Kyler Mentzel, Sunday: LHP Aiden Adams.
 
QUICK HITS
 
•  Junior utility player Carter Dobrinski has a hit in each of Tarleton's seven games this season. He has played left field, third base, and DH.
•  Graduate senior Kemuel Thomas-Rivera has gotten on base in all of the Texans seven games this season.
•  True freshman LHP Aiden Adams is 2-0 in his first two starts this season. The Bryant, Arkansas native has a 1.80 ERA and has held opponents to a .205 batting average.
•  Tarleton continued their streak of losing the first two games of a series, followed by winning the series finale vs. EIU.
•  In Tarleton's win over EIU on Monday, three Texans finished with multi-hit games. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera (3), Colby Seltzer (2), and Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo (2).
•  Of the 16 different innings that Tarleton has plated a run this season nine of them have been multiple run innings.
 •  The only Texans that have started at the same position in every game thus far is shortstop Bryan Aguilar, center fielder Alec Williams and right fielder London Green.
 
WAC UPDATES
 
NEW LOOK WAC: After finishing 7th out of 10 teams in its inaugural season in the WAC, Tarleton will now compete in the Southwest division as the conference split into two divisions after the addition of four fellow Texas universities. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin begin their first year of competition in the WAC in 2022, joining Tarleton and UTRGV.

WAC PRESEASON POLL: Tarleton was chosen to finish sixth out of six schools in the WAC preseason poll for the Southwest division. The poll was released on Feb. 9. The Texans received seven total votes.

NEW WAC ADDITIONS: Starting on July 1, 2022, the Western Athletic Conference will add two more Texas universities to the fold. University of the Incarnate Word and UT-Arlington will join the conference to run the total of Texas universities to eight. UIW is coming from the Southland Conference and UTA from the Sun Belt Conference. With Sam Houston set for a July 1, 2023, departure to Conference USA, the conference will sit at seven in the Southwest Division for the 2023-2024 season.

CONFERENCE DOUBLEHEADERS NO MORE: COVID-19 played a part in the 2021 season, forcing some conferences including the WAC to schedule four game conference series with doubleheaders on Saturday. 2022 should bring some normalcy back to the college baseball landscape as the WAC and most other Dl conferences are back on the traditional three game Fri./Sat./Sun. series.
 
NOTABLES
• PRESEASON HONORS: Perfect Game USA named senior outfielder London Green and junior right-handed pitcher Bryce Hackett to its preseason All-WAC team. D1Baseball.com named the duo to its list of top 2022 MLB draft prospects in the WAC. Green came in at No. 8 with Hackett following behind at No. 18. D1Baseball also ranked freshman pitcher Kyler Mentzel No. 2 on its "Impact Freshman" in the WAC list. Tarleton did not have any players selected to the All-WAC preseason team which is voted on by the league's coaches.
• TRANSFER PORTAL: Of the Texans 18 newcomers for the 2022 season, five of them come from other DI schools (Boyd, Campa, Crews, Daniell & E. Turnage) and five come from junior college (Dobrinski, Hickey, Kurahashi-Choy Foo, Ross and Williams). The class garnered recognition from Baseball America on their "Notable Under-The-Radar 2021 College Baseball Recruiting Classes" write-up.
• HOT ON THE RECRUITING TRAIL: Speaking of newcomers, the Tarleton coaching staff hit the recruiting trail hard this past season in pursuit of signing an instant impact 2021 class. There were seven freshman who signed with the Texans as well as ten transfers. The freshman class was also mentioned in the Baseball America "Notable Under-The-Radar 2021 College Baseball Recruiting Classes" write-up.
• YOUNG BUT STILL THE BOSS: Tarleton head coach Aaron Meade is the fifth-youngest NCAA D1 baseball coach in the country at 33 years and 292 days of age as of Feb. 18, 2022. Meade pitched in the minor leagues for four years and was an assistant coach at the NCAA D1 and D2 level for a combined six years before becoming the head man at Tarleton.
• CUTTING OUR TEETH: Tarleton is in its second season at the Dl level, but their schedule is as tough as many other experienced programs. The Texans take on five different Power 5 opponents in the 2022 season. Early in the season Tarleton has a stretch of five straight games against Power 5 opponents as they host Washington State (March 2), have a series at Missouri in Columbus (March 4-6), and head back to Bryan-College Station to play Texas A&M for a second consecutive season (March 8).
• RETURNING FIREPOWER: Three Texans on this season's roster garnered honorable mention All-WAC in 2021. Bryan Aguilar, Kemuel Thomas-Rivera and London Green figure to lead the Texan offense this season as they accounted for nearly 30 percent of Tarleton's hits last season.
• FACILITIES UPGRADES: Tarleton installed Hellas Matrix Turf on its baseball and softball field and all bullpen areas before the 2022 season. Surrounding the new turf is brand-new, 10-feet high Champion Wall in the outfield and six-feet high, vinyl-coated chain-link fencing down the foul lines. The baseball field extends up to 16-feet high in center field for the batter's eye. The project also included a new Ephesus LED Lighting system at both fields. The upgraded lighting system enhances both venues and meets the requirements for hosting NCAA regional broadcasts.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will head to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers in a weekend series at Taylor Stadium March 4-6. The games will not be streamed but can be listened to here.