THE MATCHUP
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (11-21, 6-9 WAC) vs St. Thomas Tommies (5-20, 2-7 Summit)
Dates & Times: 3 & 6 p.m. CT on Friday, April 15
1 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 16
Location: Tarleton Baseball Complex in Stephenville, Texas.
TEXAN BASEBALL GAME DAY
The Tarleton Texan baseball team is hosting St. Thomas in a week where all the WAC Southwest Division teams are either off or playing non-WAC opponents.
The Easter weekend series features two D1 reclassifying schools as St. Thomas is in their second season after making the jump from D3. St. Thomas was booted from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (D3) for being "too dominant" after a majority of school presidents in the conference decided they wanted the Tommies out in 2018.
Tarleton will be searching for its third win in a row. The Friday doubleheader will be the second of the season for the Texans after they played two on Sunday, Feb. 27, vs. Eastern Illinois in Stephenville.
Probable Pitching Matchups (April 15-16):
FRIDAY | TAR RHP
Luke Baley (Gr., 1-3, 6.16 ERA) vs. UST LHP Graham Laubscher (Gr., 1-5, 6.38 ERA)
FRIDAY GM. 2 | TAR RHP
Jake Burcham (Fr., 0-1, 4.57 ERA) vs. UST LHP Evan Esch (Fr., 0-3, 2.87 ERA)
SATURDAY | TAR RHP
Bryce Hackett (Jr., 2-4, 7.03 ERA) vs. UST TBA
GAME COVERAGE & TICKETS
WATCH:
WAC Digital Network
LIVE STATS:
Game 1 |
Game 2 |
Game 3
TICKETS:
LINK
GAME DAY PROMOTIONS
It's a big weekend at the ball field for Tarleton Baseball and Softball. Friday night, fans are encouraged to take part in a food drive to benefit the Tarleton Purple Pantry. By making donations of pasta-related items (rice, dried pasta, sauce, etc.), fans will receive $2 off their ticket prices.
On Saturday, lots will open for tailgate opportunities and Tarleton Athletics will be giving away 300 free hot dogs. There will be inflatables and a DJ on site for some pregame festivities. After the games, Tarleton will be opening both fields to fans of all ages after the games for an Easter Egg hunt! Over 700 eggs will be scattered on the baseball and softball fields with a golden egg at each venue. The lucky finder of the Golden Eggs will earn the chance to throw out the first pitch at a game. Tarleton student-athletes will be available to assist younger fans.
SERIES NOTES
• St. Thomas and Tarleton will be meeting for the first time in the two schools' histories. The two schools are both in the midst of a transition period to D1, as St. Thomas became the first ever program to jump straight from D3 to D1 in 2020.
• Tarleton rattled off back-to-back wins over Lamar and UIW. It is the third time the Texans have put together consecutive wins this season.
• Tarleton will deploy the same pitching rotation as last weekend, making it the fourth unique combination for a weekend rotation this season.
QUICK HITS
- Tarleton sits in fifth place in the Southwest Division of the WAC with a 6-9 conference record. They are 1.0 game back of 7-8 ACU and UTRGV, both of whom they took a series from previously.
- Since Kemuel Thomas-Rivera made his return to the Texan lineup from injury on 3/25 vs. ACU, he has hit safely in 12 of 13 games, while currently on a nine-game hit streak and 15-game reached base safely streak. He leads the Texans in batting average (.367) among players that have met the minimum requirements of 2 PA/G and 75% of games played.
- While Thomas-Rivera has been hot, senior outfielder London Green has been on another level. Since 3/9 vs. Texas A&M, Green has hit safely in 20 of 21 games. In his last three games, he has combined for four home runs including two grand slams. He also has 11 RBI in those three games to add to his team high of 28.
- Good luck keeping Alec Williams off the basepaths. The outfielder has started all 32 games for the Texans this season, and has a hit in 25 of them, reaching base in 29. He leads the team with 15 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games, as well as nine stolen bases.
- Junior RHP Bryce Hackett had another career day in the win over Lamar on Sunday. The Arlington, Texas, native threw a career-high 8.0 innings allowing just two runs and striking out five. His other career performance came against SFA when he struck out seven batters.
NOTABLES
THE CLOSER:
Tarleton has turned to the arm of junior RHP
Matthew Hickey to close games out this season. He earned his fourth save of the season in game one vs. ACU. He has 19 K's and one walk, with opposing batters hitting .260 off of him. His four saves are tied for fourth best in the WAC.
DOUBLE DIGIT RUNS:
The Texans have posted double digit runs in back-to-back games vs. Lamar and UIW. In games the Texans have 10+ runs they are 6-1 this season.
TRIPLE DIGIT HITS:
Senior
London Green reached 100 hits in his Tarleton career on April 3 vs. SFA. The hit came in the sixth inning on a single up the middle.
BEGINNING OF THE GAME WOES:
Tarleton has been outscored 110-69 in the first three innings of games this season. They are 2-11 when trailing after the first inning and 2-15 when trailing after the third.
On the flip side, the Texans are 3-3 in games where they lead after the first and 8-2 in games where they lead after the third inning.
THE YOUNG ONES:
True freshmen
Jaime Perez and
Jake Burcham have taken on significant roles this season for Tarleton.
Perez has started 15 games behind the dish. He is hitting .322 with 19 hits to go with eight walks and a .431 on-base percentage.
Burcham is tied for second on the team with 14 appearances and leads the team with a 4.57 ERA among eligible pitchers. He has 21 K's to 11 walks.
WAC UPDATES
NEW LOOK WAC:
After finishing seventh 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.
EXTRAS
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 that signed with the Texans as well as ten transfers. The class garnered recognition from Baseball America on their "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 DI baseball coach in the country at 33 years and 292 days of age as of February 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, and they are diving in headfirst. Tarleton takes 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 Columbia (March 4-6), and head back to Bryan-College Station to play Texas A&M for a second consecutive season (March 8). They play at Baylor (May 3) and at TCU (May 17) later in the season.
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% 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 centerfield 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 host Wiley College on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT for a midweek matchup. The game will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network.
