The Teams: Tarleton Texans (21-16, 6-10 WAC) at Baylor Bears (15-25, 6-12 BIG 12)
Where: Waco, Texas
Stadium: Baylor Ballpark
Day and Time: Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
 
Tarleton baseball is coming off a highly successful weekend at home and is looking to take their success on the road in a game at a Power 5 foe Baylor.
 
The Texans will play the midweek game at Baylor Ballpark before leaving the state once more in the regular season for a three-game set at Seattle U this weekend.
 
The game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and can also be heard at this link with Byron Anderson and Ward Whites on the call for Tarleton.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (APRIL 25):
TAR RHP Piercen McElyea (Jr., 21.0 IP, 1-1, 8.57 ERA) vs. BU RHP Jared Matheson (Jr., 20.2 IP, 0-0, 5.23 ERA)

Matchup Notes
 
•  Tarleton travels to Waco on Tuesday to take on the Baylor Bears for the second consecutive season and second meeting all-time between the two universities that are just 80 miles apart.
•  Baylor currently sits in ninth place out of nine teams in the Big 12. The top eight teams advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field. Tarleton is in 11th place out of 13 teams in the WAC. The top eight teams advance to the WAC Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, AZ.
•  Last season Baylor beat Tarleton 8-2 on May 3 at Baylor Ballpark. The Texans were held to just four hits offensively. Reliever Zane Badmaev tossed 2.0 shutout innings in relief.
•  Tarleton is coming off a 4-0 week at home as they defeated Wiley College on Wednesday and swept NM State over the weekend for their first WAC sweep of the season and second WAC series win of the season.
•  Baylor is coming off a 2-2 week where they defeated fellow WAC team Sam Houston 7-6 in Waco on Tuesday and took one of three from Texas Tech in Lubbock.
 
Quick Hits
 
•  Tarleton had a stellar three game series vs. NM State over the past weekend as they swept the Aggies. As a team the Texans hit .337 in the three-game series and held NM State to just .213 at the plate.
•  Offensively a few Texans stood out over the weekend. Alec Williams hit .500 in three games played with four hits, three runs scored and three walks. Trace Morrison led Tarleton with six hits vs. the Aggies, including his first career home run, a solo shot in game two. Jack Wagner hit .455 with five hits, two triples and a home run to pair with three RBI.
•  Looking at the best pitching performances from the weekend, a few names stand out. Hunter Day picked up his fourth win of the season in game one of the series as he tossed a season-high tying 7.0 innings allowing a lone run on five hits. He had four strikeouts and no walks. Freshman Reece Elston picked up a 4.0 inning save in game three, his longest outing of the season. Elston allowed one run on four hits and struck out two. Zane Badmaev made appearances in back-to-back games, tossing 2.0 total scoreless innings and picking up his first save of the season in game two of the series.
•   Mason Hammonds is currently on an eight-game hitting streak. The junior shortstop leads Tarleton with 15 multiple hit games and 50 hits.
 
Notables
 
TEAM COMPARISON
 
                                  TARLETON                       BAYLOR  
Batting AVG                  .306                                  .268 
SLG                              .480                                  .398     
BB/SO                        186/267                           177/365  
On-base %                   .416                                  .360    
SB-ATT                      88-116                                19-36
HR                                  37                                     31
2B                                  72                                      73
3B                                  16                                      11
Runs                             304                                    229
PITCHING
ERA                              5.55                                  6.98
WHIP                            1.59                                  1.86
Opponent B/AVG        .262                                  .307
SO/BB                        343/192                            377/214
HBP                                56                                     45
WP                                  42                                     43
WP                                  42                                     24

LOOKING DEEPER AT THE NM STATE SERIES
The Texans held NM State to just two runs on two hits in game three and one run on eight hits in game one. The 10 runs allowed to the Aggies in the three-game series was by far the fewest in conference play this season, and the second lowest only behind the PVAMU series where they  allowed just four runs.
The Texans have now won five out of their last six WAC games as they try to get into contention for the WAC Tournament.
 
MR. RELIABLE
Mason Hammonds has been Mr. Reliable for Tarleton this season. The junior shortstop has started a team-high 34 games out of 37 and is hitting .350 with a team-high 50 hits and 13 doubles to pair with 33 runs scored. Hammonds leads the team with 15 multi-hit games and is currently on an eight-game hit streak. He had four hits and three RBI in the NM State series.
 
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 26 games in left field and leads Tarleton with a .396 batting average. He has 42 hits, 18 runs scored, 16 RBI and is 9-13 on stolen bases. The .396 batting average is good for sixth best in the WAC.
     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 3.15 ERA. In 11 appearances, the lefty has allowed seven earned runs, striking out 25 and walking 13 in 20.0 IP.  Opponents are hitting .230 off him and he holds a 2-1 record.
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
Tarleton is first in team batting average (.306), slugging (.480), on-base percentage (.416), stolen bases (88) and triples (16). On the pitching side the Texans are second in opponent batting average (.262), third in ERA (5.55) and fifth in strikeouts (343).
Jack Wagner is first in slugging (.763), third in on-base percentage (.483), fourth in home runs (11) and tied-fifth in the WAC with 42 RBI. Trace Morrison is fourth in batting average (.396). Mason Hammonds is tied-eighth with 13 doubles and tied-third with four triples. Kooper Shook leads the WAC with 22 stolen bases.
 
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. 

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.
 
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 11 home runs, 21 walks, 42 RBI and is hitting .364 He is slugging .763 with an OPS of 1.246.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will travel to Seattle for a three-game series at Seattle U this weekend.