Tarleton baseball will host the TCU Horned Frogs on Tuesday evening for the second time as a Division 1 member.
 
The game is Tarleton's military appreciation game with free admission for all active and retired military members. There will be a crawfish boil pregame put on by The Shack, free cowboy rubber ducks given away and deals at the concession stand all night.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (14-11, 1-6 WAC) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (17-11, 5-4 BIG 12)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Tarleton Baseball Complex
Day and Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (April 4)
TAR RHP Isiah Campa (Sr., 4.1 IP, 0-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. TCU LHP Braeden Sloan (Fr., 23.1 IP, 2-2, 5.40 ERA)

 
 Matchup Notes
 
•  Tarleton and TCU will meet for the 25th time on Tuesday evening in Stephenville. It will be the third meeting with both schools playing at the Division 1 level.
•  TCU has won both games since Tarleton has reclassified to Division 1, with one game in Fort Worth and one in Stephenville, about a week apart from each other in the 2021 season. The first was a 13-9 Horned Frog victory in Stephenville on April 6, 2021. The second was a 10-2 TCU win at Lupton Stadium on April 13, 2021.
•  The last meeting before 2021 was March 26, 2000, an 8-5 Texan win in 10 innings in Fort Worth.
•  The Texans are coming off a series in Edinburg vs. UTRGV in which they were swept by the Vaqueros. Tarleton outhit UTRGV in the final two games but the Vaqueros timely hitting kept them ahead.
•  TCU is coming off a series loss to #22 Texas Tech. They were outscored 37-31 on the series but scored 10+ runs twice.
•  Tarleton is 12-3 at home this season and just 2-8 on the road. The Texans have lost five consecutive games, all on the road. They lost one to UTA, one to Utah Valley and three to UTRGV.
•          TCU is 4-5 on the road. They have taken on fellow WAC foe UTA three times this season, winning two and losing one. TCU won the first matchup 7-3 on Feb. 22 in Fort Worth. They lost on March 7 at home, 8-7.
 
Quick Hits
•  Tarleton RHP Isiah Campa will get the nod on the mound in the midweek game. Campa has not tossed more than 1.2 innings in his three starts this season as he is progressing back from an injury that ended his 2022 campaign early. Campa has started the last three midweek games and holds a 4.15 ERA.
•  Jaime Perez and Mason Hammonds each posted five hits over the weekend to lead the Texans offense. Perez ended the weekend with five hits, five runs scored and three RBI. Hammonds had five hits and three RBI in the series. He has reached base in 23 consecutive games for Tarleton, primarily from the leadoff spot.
•  The Texans outhit the Vaqueros in the final two games of the series, but Tarleton's pitching staff was unable to keep UTRGV off the scoreboard. Tarleton held a 8-3 lead in the sixth inning Sunday, but UTRGV immediately responded with five runs in the bottom half to tie the game as they ultimately won. The Texans had four runners thrown out on the base paths Sunday, two caught stealing and two picked off.
 
Notables

STEPHENVILLE DUO
Tarleton has two players from Stephenville HS on the roster that have made an impact this season.
 
Stephenville native and true freshman LHP Reece Elston has made a strong impact out of the Texan bullpen thus far in 2023. He leads the team with a 1.59 ERA. In seven appearances, the lefty has allowed just two earned runs, striking out 14 and walking eight in 11.2 IP.  Opponents are hitting .150 off him and he holds a 2-0 record.

     Sophomore outfielder Trace Morrison has started 16 games in left field and leads Tarleton with a .397 batting average. He has 25 hits, 12 runs scored, nine RBI and is 5-6 on stolen bases.
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
     Tarleton leads the Western Athletic Conference in team slugging (.504), on-base percentage (.427), runs scored (222) and stolen bases (60). They are second in team batting average (.310), RBI (187) 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.
 
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 10games 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 six home runs while hitting .351 with 26 RBI.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will play host to Stephen F. Austin this weekend from Thursday-Saturday as the teams have Sunday off for Easter. Last season Tarleton and SFA split the season series 3-3 as both teams swept the other at home.