The Teams: Tarleton Texans (22-16, 6-10 WAC) at Seattle U Redhawks (13-24, 9-9 WAC)
Where: Bellevue, WA
Stadium: Bannerwood Park
Day and Time: Friday at 6 p.m. CT, Saturday at 6 p.m. CT, Sunday at 2 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: WACINternational.tv
 
Tarleton baseball is in Seattle for a three-game conference series with the Seattle U Redhawks.
 
The Texans will play three games as they continue to claw their way into WAC Baseball Tournament contention.
 
All three games will be streamed on WACINternational.tv.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (APRIL 28-30):
TAR RHP Hunter Day (Jr., 50.0 IP, 4-1, 4.68 ERA) vs. SU LHP Peter Chronowski (Sr., 58.1 IP, 2-6, 4.01 ERA)
TAR LHP Dylan Delveccchio (So., 44.1 IP, 2-2, 6.90 ERA) vs. SU RHP Nestor German (Jr., 50.2 IP, 3-4, 6.39 ERA)
TAR RHP Devon Patel (Jr., 23.0 IP, 2-0, 1.96 ERA) vs. SU RHP Luke Alwood (Fr., 22.1 IP, 1-1, 4.84 ERA)

Matchup Notes
 
•  Tarleton will be on the road this weekend for its second to last road WAC series of the season at Seattle U.
•  The meeting in the series opener on Friday will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools. Tarleton holds the 3-1 all-time lead as they took three out of four from the Redhawks in Bellevue in 2021.
•  Seattle U is coming off a 6-4 loss to the Washington Huskies on Tuesday while Tarleton is coming off its first ever win over a Power 5 program as they took down Baylor 6-2 at Baylor Ballpark on Tuesday.
•  The series is a big one for the two WAC schools with Seattle U entering with a 9-9 conference record and Tarleton sitting at 6-10. Seattle U is currently in eighth place with Tarleton in 11th. The top eight teams will advance to Mesa, Arizona for the WAC Tournament beginning May 23.
 
 
Quick Hits
 
•  The Texan pitching staff had an impressive performance at Baylor on Tuesday. They struck out 16 batters while walking just one. Piercen McElyea struck out a season-high 10 in 5.0 innings of work, walking none. Three other Texan relievers combined to throw 4.0 scoreless innings to close the win out over Baylor.
•  In conference play, center fielder Alec Williams leads Tarleton with a .385 batting average. He has posted 15 hits, 12 runs scored, 10 walks, and eight RBI.
•  Tarleton has won five in a row and eight of its last 10. In WAC play, they have won five of the last six played after starting the conference slate 1-9.
•  Mason Hammonds is currently on a 10-game hitting streak. The junior shortstop leads Tarleton with 16 multiple hit games and 52 hits.
•  Trace Morrison has been crushing it at the plate for Tarleton. Morrison has seven multi-hit games in his last 10 played, with three of them being three hit games. Morrison leads the team with a .405 batting average and is second with 45 hits.
   • The Texans will employ the same three starting pitchers as they did last weekend vs. NM State. Hunter Day threw 7.0 innings in game one, allowing a lone run, walking none and striking out four. Dylan Delvecchio allowed five runs in 5.0 innings in game two, striking out five and walking one.


Notables
 
TEAM COMPARISON
 
                                  TARLETON                      SEATTLE U
Batting AVG                  .307                              .267    
SLG                                 .478                              .406     
BB/SO                        191/275                       124/351  
On-base %                     .416                              .346    
SB-Att                           88-116                       11-18
HR                                    37                               33
2B                                     74                               65
3B                                     16                               6
Runs                                310                             189
PITCHING
ERA                                 5.46                               6.56
WHIP                             1.56                                1.69
Opponent B/AVG         .260                              .292
SO/BB                          359/193                       271/166
HBP                                  56                                   58
WP                                    42                                   52

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 35 games out of 37 and is hitting .351 with a team-high 52 hits and 13 doubles to pair with 35 runs scored. Hammonds leads the team with 16 multi-hit games and is currently on an 10-game hit streak. He had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI in the win over Baylor.
 
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 27 games in left field and leads Tarleton with a .405 batting average. He has 45 hits, 18 runs scored, 18 RBI and is 9-13 on stolen bases. The .405 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 .358 He is slugging .740 with an OPS of 1.214.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will return to Texas for a midweek game at Texas A&M on Tuesday.