Tarleton baseball has returned to Stephenville and is in store for a huge Western Athletic Conference series with the second place Grand Canyon Lopes in town for three games.
 
Friday's game falls on Cinco de Mayo and there will be festivities abound for fans. There will be live music from 'South Texas Tweek' with two performances, one at 3 p.m. and another at 5:15 p.m. at the Tarleton Baseball Complex. Tikiz Shaved Ice & Ice Cream will also have their food truck parked at the complex and there will be a raffle for an RTIC cooler.
 
There is a slight alteration to the usual weekend series schedule. Saturday's game will begin at 2 p.m. CT rather than the normal 3 p.m. first pitch.
 
Friday and Sunday's games will air on ESPN+, while Saturday's game will be streamed on WACinternational.tv.
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (23-19, 7-12 WAC) vs. Grand Canyon Lopes (27-19, 14-7 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Tarleton Baseball Complex
Day and Time: Friday at 6 p.m. CT, Saturday at 2 p.m. CT, Sunday at 1 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: Friday and Sunday: ESPN +, Saturday: WACinternational.tv
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (MAY 5-7):
TAR RHP Hunter Day (Jr., 58.0 IP, 5-1, 4.19 ERA) vs. GCU RHP Daniel Avitia (So., 61.2 IP, 5-1, 3.79 ERA)
TAR LHP Dylan Delvecchio (So., 46.2 IP, 2-3, 7.33 ERA) vs. GCU LHP Zach Thornton (Jr., 65.2 IP, 6-1, 3.29 ERA)
TAR RHP Devon Patel (So., 26.2 IP, 2-1, 3.37 ERA) vs. GCU TBD

Matchup Notes

•  Friday's game will be the fifth meeting all-time between the two schools, with GCU holding the 4-0 advantage. The Lopes traveled to Stephenville in 2021 for a four-game WAC series that they swept.
•  Tarleton has lost three straight games, falling in the final two games of the series at Seattle U and dropping a midweek decision at Texas A&M. The final scores in the previous losses have been 6-4, 6-4 and 6-5. Tarleton is currently in 11th place in the WAC as they continue to fight for a tournament spot.
•  GCU enters the series winners of its last four and fresh off a midweek home win over the Arizona Wildcats. The Lopes have won their last five WAC games and are in second place in the league with a 14-7 record.
•  SS Jacob Wilson paces the Lopes with a .419 batting average and 56 RBI. Wilson is projected to be a first-round draft pick in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft in July.
 
Quick Hits
 
•  Tarleton lost a close contest at Texas A&M on Tuesday, but its lineup displayed power with Jack Wagner hitting a three-run home run and Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo hitting a solo home run against SEC talent. Wagner and Choy Foo pace the Texans with 11 and nine multi-RBI games respectively, and they will need to bring their bats to this series as the Texans try to take a series from second place GCU.
•  Alec Williams has been crucial to the Texan lineup in WAC play. Williams holds a team-high .400 batting average in WAC play with a .508 on-base percentage. He has more walks (11) than strikeouts (9) and leads the Texans with 10 stolen bases in league play.
•  Tarleton starting pitcher Hunter Day led the Texans to their lone win at Seattle U. Day threw 8.0 innings, allowing a lone run, striking out five and walking none. The 8.0 innings were a season-high for Day as he moved his record to 5-1 on the year. Day gets the nod vs. GCU on Friday and the Texans will need another impressive outing from the Minnesota native to secure a win. Tarleton is 8-2 in games Day has started.
•   Tarleton is 12-1 when leading after the first inning this season and 2-10 in games they are trailing their opponent after one inning. Quick starts and early momentum are key to the Texans finding success.
 
Notables
 

TEAM COMPARISON	TARLETON	GRAND CANYON
Batting Average	.300	.298
Slugging	.465	.448
Walks to Strikeouts	202/314	240/278
On-Base %	.405	.392
Stolen Bases-Attempts	92-123	38-46
Home Runs	40	40
Doubles	80	100
Triples	16	13
Runs Scored	325	350
PITCHING
ERA	5.41	5.59
WHIP	1.55	1.58
Opponent Batting Average	.259	.293
Strikeouts to Walks	382/208	414/162
Hit Batters/Wild Pitches	66/45	40/30

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.
 
STRICTLY WAC
Tarleton has had some strong performers in conference play, with five different relievers holding an under 5.00 ERA in WAC games. Zane Badmaev leads the way with a 2.45 ERA and 14 strikeouts, followed by Zach Poe who has posted a 2.57 ERA in six appearances. Jake Burcham has a 2.79 ERA in seven appearances, Reece Elston has a 3.86 ERA in five appearances and Grant Garza has a 4.96 ERA in seven appearances, striking out 11.
Offensively, Alec Williams leads the way in WAC play with a .400 average to pair with a .508 on-base percentage and 10 stolen bases. Trace Morrison is hitting .333 and has a team-high 24 hits in league play. Mason Hammonds has driven in the most runs with 14 RBI followed by Jack Wagner with 13.
 
MOWING 'EM DOWN
Zane Badmaev has been hot as can be out of the bullpen this season for the Texans. The senior RHP has 38 strikeouts compared to just five walks while holding a 2.42 ERA and has not allowed a run in his last seven outings. Badmaev has walked just two batters in 11.0 innings of work in conference play. He has featured primarily late in games for Tarleton as the de facto closer.
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
Tarleton is first in team on-base percentage (.405), stolen bases (92) and hit by pitch (60), second in team batting average (.300), triples (16) and walks (202) and third in slugging (.465) and runs scored (325). On the pitching side the Texans are second in opponent batting average (.259), third in ERA (5.37) and fourth in strikeouts (376).
Kooper Shook leads the WAC with 22 stolen bases. Jack Wagner is second in slugging (.703), fourth in home runs (12) and sixth in RBI (46), Trace Morrison is fifth in batting average (.372). Mason Hammonds is tied-10th with 14 doubles and Hammonds and Wagner are tied-third with four triples. Hunter Day is tied-seventh with five wins, has the 10th best ERA (4.19) and has thrown the 10th most innings (58.0)
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will not have a midweek game next week and will travel to Abilene on Friday for a three-game conference series.