STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton baseball is set for a midweek bout with UT Arlington at Clay Gould Ballpark on Tuesday evening.
 
The contest is a non-conference game and the fourth meeting of the season for the two teams. It is Tarleton's first of seven consecutive games on the road after previously playing 11 straight in Stephenville.
 
The game will be streamed on WACInternational.tv.
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (14-6, 1-2 WAC) vs. UTA Mavericks (8-12, 3-3 WAC)
Where: Arlington, Texas
Stadium: Clay Gould Ballpark
Day and Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: WACInternational.tv

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (March 21):
TUE: TAR RHP Isiah Campa (Jr., 2.2 IP, 0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. UTA TBD
 
 Matchup Notes
 
•  Tarleton and UTA will meet for the fourth time this season and sixth all-time on Tuesday evening in Arlington. The two teams played a conference series in Stephenville March 10-12 and the Mavericks won the series, taking two games from the Texans.
•  Tarleton is coming off a series sweep of the UIW Cardinals at home in Stephenville. UTA played host to Abilene Christian in the two teams second Western Athletic Conference series of the season. ACU took the series 2-1, winning on Saturday and Sunday.
•  Tarleton will look to even the season series with UTA at 2-2 with a win on Tuesday. The game is a non-conference game, having been scheduled prior to the Mavericks joining the WAC.
•  The Texans will head to Utah this weekend to take on Utah Valley in Orem for Tarleton's second WAC series of the season. The high in Orem over the weekend is 37 degrees, with the low sitting at 20 degrees with rain projected all weekend.
 
Quick Hits
•  Isiah Campa will get the nod as Tarleton's starting pitcher on Tuesday, his third start of the season. He is coming off a season-ending injury that occurred in 2022 and is carving out a spot in the Texans rotation.
•  Trace Morrison started all three games in the series vs. UIW. The sophomore outfielder hit .500 with six hits in 12 at-bats, to go with two runs scored and two RBI. He also added two stolen bases in the series.
•  Jack Wagner, the Texans leader in home runs and RBI, stayed hot at the plate vs. UIW as he hit .429 in three games. He added six hits, four RBI and three runs scored. His solo home run in the ninth inning on Sunday delivered Tarleton a walk-off victory and secured the sweep.
•  Tarleton hit .347 as a team over the weekend while holding UIW to just .247. Tarleton stole 11 bases in the series while the Cardinals stole four. The Texans are now 12-3 at home.
•  When UTA and Tarleton met in Stephenville earlier this month, UTA hit .324 while Tarleton hit just .260. Kooper Shook led Tarleton on offense in the series, hitting .417 with five hits, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
 
Notables

WAC LEADERBOARDS
Jack Wagner leads the WAC in slugging (.841), on-base percentage (.518) and home runs (6). Kooper Shook leads the league in stolen bases with 13. Mason Hammonds leads the WAC in triples with four. Will Stevens leads the WAC in opposing players batting average (.174), hits allowed (12) and strikeouts per game (13.50).
 
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
     Tarleton leads the Western Athletic Conference in team batting average (.320), slugging (.536), on-base percentage (.438), runs scored (196), hits (217), RBI (164), doubles (48), triples (12), home runs (25) total bases (364), walks (105) and stolen bases (52).
 
On the pitching side, Tarleton is second in ERA (4.68), second in opposing batting average (.247), first in strikeouts (214) and first in runs allowed (100).
 
 
FRESHMAN COMING ON STRONG
     Stephenville native and true freshman LHP Reece Elston has made a strong impact out of the Texan bullpen thus far in 2023. In six appearances, the lefty has allowed just one earned run, striking out 12 and walking seven.  Opponents are hitting .167 off him and he holds a 2-0 record.
 
 
FACILITY UPGRADES
    The Tarleton Baseball Complex saw a significant facelift in the offseason. Capacity was increased with the complex now seating over 1,000. A cantilever roof structure providing cover was added and a new press box was installed. This comes after new turf, lights and outfield wall were installed prior to the 2022 season. This scope was phase two for the baseball facility that will continue to see renovations over the coming months.
 
DIVISIONS NO LONGER
    After playing in the Southwest Division of the WAC in 2022, the conference moved to scrap the divisions ahead of 2023. The Texans will play GCU, NM State, California Baptist, Seattle U, Utah Valley and newcomer UT Arlington this season, teams they did not see in 2022.
 
WAC PRESEASON POLL
       Tarleton was chosen to finish 10th out of 13 schools in the WAC preseason poll. The poll was released on February 10.  The Texans received 40 total votes and slotted in ahead of Utah Valley, Seattle U and Stephen F. Austin. Grand Canyon was picked to win the league, followed by Sam Houston and California Baptist.
 
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
       Three Texans saw their names on preseason 2023 MLB Draft prospect lists released this preseason. RHP Will Stevens came in as the No. 11 2023 MLB Draft prospect in the WAC by D1Baseball.com. He was followed by LHP Dylan Delvecchio at No. 22. Jordan Andrade was rated as the No. 10 2023 MLB Draft prospect in the WAC by Perfect Game. All three players are transfers new to the team in 2023. Stevens is a Kansas City, Mo. native that played last season at Wichita State. Delvecchio comes to Stephenville by way of Palomar College in California, a juco. Andrade transferred to the Texans following a three-year stint at UNLV and figures to see time at second base and shortstop.
 
TRANSFER PORTAL
The Texans added 17 newcomers to the roster via the transfer portal. 10 come from the junior college ranks while seven come from other four year universities.
 
A STORY TO WATCH
Grant Kerry is a newcomer to the Texan roster in 2023 after playing the last two seasons at Northwest Nazarene, a D2 school in Idaho. Kerry was born in Hong Kong, his family hails from England and he has lived in Kuwait, Australia and the United States. He played his high school ball in Australia before coming to the United States to play for a Boise State baseball program that was revived in 2019 after being dormant since 1980. After the covid-19 pandemic hit and the Broncos had played just 14 games, Boise State officials moved to cut the baseball program, citing budget issues. Kerry transferred to NNU where he was an All-American and helped lead them to the Division 2 World Series in 2021. Kerry is a utility player that could see time at first base as well as in the outfield.
 
BIG TIME BASEBALL IN STEPHENVILLE
Tarleton will host the likes of Oral Roberts (March 14), TCU (April 4), NM State (April 21-23), Grand Canyon (May 5-7), Baylor (May 16), and Sam Houston (May 18-20) this year at the newly renovated Tarleton Baseball Complex.
 
PLAYING FOR POSTSEASON
The Western Athletic Conference announced that for the 2022-2023 calendar year, Tarleton Athletics will now be postseason eligible for all conference postseason events despite the Texans being in year three of a reclassification period from Division 2. That means that if the Texans finish in the top eight of the WAC standings, they will travel to Mesa, Arizona, to participate in the 2023 WAC Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium.
 
FRESHMEN
       Tarleton added six true freshmen to its roster ahead of the 2023 season. Five of the six hail from the great state of Texas. Tyson Drake is an outfielder that won the 2022 Texas 6A state championship at Southlake Carroll. Landry McKittrick led Godley to a regional semifinal appearance in 2021, hitting .427. Reece Elston hails from Stephenville where he was an all-state pitcher and all-state wide receiver. Tyler Sudderth struck out 70, holding a 2.22 ERA his senior season at Granbury. Breck Bradshaw played at Lake Dallas HS and shined for the travel ball team USA Prime. Dominic Corgiat played at Fenwick HS in Illinois where he was ranked the No. 15 LHP in the state in 2022 by Perfect Game.
 
BROADCASTING ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Part of the latest renovations to the Tarleton Baseball Complex and Tarleton Softball Complex included the capability to match ESPN standards of multiple camera angles on the broadcast. With that, Tarleton will stream select 2023 baseball and softball home games on ESPN+ for the first time ever.
 
BEHIND THE DISH
  Last season the Texans featured two catchers primarily. Mason Crews and Jaime Perez each started 19 games as both missed time with injury. The 2023 season has been much of the same as Crews has started nine games and Perez 11.


GREAT PLAINS TO THE COWBOY CAPITAL
Redshirt junior utility player Jack Wagner has seen his fair share of experience at the Division 1 level. He spent four seasons as a member of the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12. Wagner missed last season due to an injury and took a redshirt, but prior to that he performed well in Lawrence. As a redshirt sophomore in 2021, he appeared in 43 games, starting 31 and hit .257 with 17 RBI and a .385 on-base percentage. Thus far in 2023 for Tarleton, Wagner has impressed, leading the Texans with 18 RBI, four home runs and is on a nine-game hit streak.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton hits the road for a WAC series in Utah vs. the Utah Valley Wolverines this weekend. All three games are slated to be streamed on ESPN+.