Tarleton baseball will look to get back in the win column this week with four games in Riverside, California.
 
The first game of the week comes against the UC Riverside Highlanders out of the Big West Conference. Later this week the Texans will play a three-game WAC series at California Baptist.
 
Wednesday's game with the Highlanders will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (14-15, 1-9 WAC) at UC Riverside (6-22, 0-9 BIG WEST)
Where: Riverside, California
Stadium: Riverside Sports Complex
Day and Time: Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (APRIL 12):
TAR RHP Devon Patel (Jr., 34.0 IP, 2-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. UCR TBD

 Matchup Notes
 
•  Tarleton kicks off its first of four games in Riverside, California, this week with a Wednesday tilt with the UC Riverside Highlanders.
•  The meeting on Wednesday will be the first all-time between the two schools.
•  Tarleton enters the game on a nine game losing streak with its last win coming on March 19 vs. the UIW Cardinals at home. UC Riverside enters the game on an eight-game losing streak with its last win coming on March 27 at California Baptist in RIverside.
•  Tarleton holds a .308 team batting average, with the Highlanders hitting .263 as a squad. UCR has 10 home runs and 50 extra base hits while the Texans have 29 home runs and 73 extra base hits. On the pitching side, Tarleton has a 5.69 team ERA and UCR has a 7.62 team ERA. The Highlanders have a 148/115 K/BB ratio and the Texans are sitting at 279/152.
• UCR is 3-8 at home with an 8-1 win over WAC foe Utah Valley on Feb. 24.
 
Quick Hits
•  Tarleton will turn to Devon Patel on the mound Tuesday. The right-handed reliever holds a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched. Patel has 21 strikeouts compared to just five walks with opposing batters hitting just .218 off him.
•  Trace Morrison continued his impressive ways at the plate in the series vs. SFA. Morrison finished the series with six hits adding to his 32 hits on the season, good for second best on the team. He leads the team with a .405 batting average and is second on the team with a .478 on-base percentage. Morrison has started 20 games in left field this season.
•  Tarleton is looking to snap its nine-game losing streak and scoring early and getting a lead could be key to that. In games where the Texans have trailed after the first inning, they are 1-7. When trailing after the second inning they are 3-8 and trailing after the third the Texans are just 2-10.
•  Cris Enriquez started all three games in the series vs. SFA and produced seven hits with two games of three hits. The Fontana, Calif. native has seven multi-hit games and is on a five-game hit streak.
 
 
Notables
STEPHENVILLE DUO
Tarleton has two players from Stephenville HS on the roster that have made an impact this season.
 
Sophomore outfielder Trace Morrison has started 20 games in left field and leads Tarleton with a .405 batting average. He has 32 hits, 14 runs scored, nine RBI and is 8-10 on stolen bases.
 
Stephenville native and true freshman LHP Reece Elston has made a strong impact out of the Texan bullpen thus far in 2023. He holds a 3.46 ERA. In eight appearances, the lefty has allowed seven earned runs, striking out 17 and walking 10 in 13.0 IP.  Opponents are hitting .224 off him and he holds a 2-1 record.
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
     Tarleton leads the Western Athletic Conference in team  batting average (.308), slugging (.485), on-base percentage (.419), runs scored (245) and stolen bases (71). They are third in RBI (206) and triples (13).
 
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.
 
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 26 RBI, six home runs and 21 runs scored.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will stay in Riverside for a three-game Western Athletic Conference series with the California Baptist Lancers this weekend.