Tarleton baseball's season is nearing an end as they host the Sam Houston Bearkats from Thursday-Saturday in the final series of the season.
 
The Texans will honor seniors on Saturday for Senior Day. The ceremony will take place prior to first pitch with four seniors being honored, as well as five other student-athletes being honored that received their degrees this spring.
 
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (24-25, 8-17 WAC) vs. Sam Houston Bearkats (32-20, 21-6 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Tarleton Baseball Complex
Day and Time: Thursday at 6 p.m. CT, Friday at 3 p.m. CT, Saturday at 1 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (MAY 5-7):
TAR RHP Hunter Day (Jr., 65.0 IP, 5-2, 4.57 ERA) vs. SHSU RHP Coltin Atkinson (Jr., 68.0 IP, 8-2, 3.57 ERA)
TAR LHP Dylan Delvecchio (So., 55.2 IP, 2-4, 7.44 ERA) vs. SHSU LHP Steven Beard (Sr., 69.1 IP, 6-3, 5.06 ERA)
TAR TBA vs. SHSU TBA

Matchup Notes
•  Tarleton hosts the first place Sam Houston Bearkats in the final series of the season for the Texans.
•  The Texans will be searching for their first WAC series win dating back to the home sweep of NM State on April 21 & 22.
•  Tarleton would have to sweep the Kats to finish above .500, something the program has not done since the 2018 season when they finished 35-17 and won the LSC Tournament. The 24 wins Tarleton currently has is the most since that 2018 season.
•  Sam Houston needs just one win in the series this weekend to claim the WAC regular season championship and No. 1 seed at the WAC Tournament that begins next week in Mesa, Arizona, at Hohokam Stadium.
 
Quick Hits
 
•  Mason Hammonds 61 hits this season are the most by a Texan in the Division 1 era. The Texans shortstop has totaled 17 multi-hit games and also leads the Texans in runs scored with 42 in his first season in Stephenville after transferring from Bossier Parish CC.
•  Jack Wagner finished the ACU series 4-11 (.363) at the plate to lead the Texans offensively. Wagner has 13 multi-RBI games, 14 multi-hit games and leads the Texans in home runs (15), RBI (55), slugging (.713), walks (27), on-base percentage (.453) and OPS (1.166).
•  Hunter Day will get the ball on Friday, making his 12th start of the season. Day leads the Texans in most pitching statistics and has been the only weekend rotation mainstay, as he is the only Texan to start a game in every weekend of this season.
•  Reece Elston tied a career-high on Sunday with five strikeouts vs. ACU. He allowed no runs in 2.2 innings, allowing a lone hit. The Stephenville native holds a 3.28 ERA in 14 appearances and a 2.87 ERA in WAC play. He has been one of Tarleton's most trusted arms out of the bullpen this season as a true freshman.
•   Six Texans earned their degree at the Tarleton State University commencement last Friday. Isiah Campa, Alec Williams, Devon Patel, Peyton Hutson, Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo and Mason Crews all walked at Memorial Stadium before the game at ACU, becoming Tarleton State alumni.
 
Notables
 

TEAM COMPARISON	TARLETON	SHSU
Batting Average	.291	.320
Slugging	.449	.509
Walks to Strikeouts	217/368	213/325
On-Base %	.392	.402
Stolen Bases-Attempts	97-129	88-110
Home Runs	46	67
Doubles	88	122
Triples	16	12
Runs Scored	353	422
PITCHING
ERA	5.74	5.20
WHIP	1.58	1.53
Opponent Batting Average	.267	.276
Strikeouts to Walks	434/242	416/196
Hit Batters/Wild Pitches	80/51	43/53

SENIORS
Tarleton will honor four different seniors in Saturday's senior day pregame ceremony. Zane Badmaev, Carter Dobrinski, Peyton Hutson and Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo will all play in their final collegiate games this weekend.
Mason Crews, Devon Patel, Matt Haley, Alec Williams and Zach Poe will also be honored as they earned thier degrees from Tarleton, but still have elgibility remaining.
 
STRICTLY WAC
Tarleton has had some strong performers in conference play, with four different relievers holding an under 5.00 ERA in WAC games. Zane Badmaev has posted a 3.78 ERA and 18 strikeouts to four walks in 16.2 innings. Zach Poe holds a 1.98 ERA in 10 appearances. Jake Burcham has a 2.79 ERA in seven appearances, Reece Elston has a 2.87 ERA in seven appearances.
Offensively, Alec Williams leads the way in WAC play with a .362 average to pair with a .470 on-base percentage and 11 stolen bases. Trace Morrison is hitting .323 and has a team-high 31 hits in league play. Jack Wagner has driven in the most runs with 22 RBI followed by Mason Hammonds with 14.
 
MOWING 'EM DOWN
Zane Badmaev has been hot as can be out of the bullpen this season for the Texans. The senior RHP has 44 strikeouts compared to just seven walks while holding a 3.00 ERA and has allowed just four runs in his last 11 outings. Badmaev has walked just four batters in 16.2 innings of work in conference play. He has featured primarily late in games for Tarleton as the de facto closer.
 
FIRST POWER 5 VICTORY
With a 6-2 win over Baylor in Waco on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Tarleton baseball picked up its first win over a Power 5 team in program history. The Texans took struck first in the first inning and never gave the lead up. Piercen McElyea played a big part in the win, striking out a season-high 10 in 5.0 innings of work, walking none. McElyea threw a first pitch strike to 18 of 23 batters he faced.
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton's season comes to a close following Saturday's game with Sam Houston. Next up will be summer camps hosted by Tarleton Baseball, with more information expected to be released next week.