The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (13-7, 0-0 WAC) at Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (13-9, 5-4 SLC)
Where: Nacogdoches, Texas
Stadium: Jaycees Field
Days and Times: Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
- TSU RHP Cort Lowry (1-2, 2.60 ERA, 17.1 IP); SFA TBD
- TSU RHP Ethan Wendel (2-1, 1.45 ERA, 21.1 IP); SFA TBD
- TSU TBD; SFA TBD
QUICK HITS
- Tarleton State just beat No. 2 Texas 6-1 in Austin on Tuesday. The Texans handed the Longhorns their second loss of the season (18-2), posting their third win over a Power Four conference team ever, its second this season alone. The Texans shut out the Longhorns over the final eight innings.
- Tuesday was Tarleton State's best win in program history. It was the Texans' first D1 ranked opponent win, and the Longhorns were ranked No. 2, nonetheless. It was the Texans' second ranked game this year, as they narrowly dropped a 3-1 affair against #7 Arkansas at Globe Life Field in Arlington. TSU allowed three runs in the first inning in that game, shutting out the Razorbacks over the final eight.
- On Tuesday, the Texans used five pitchers. Brendon Carter got the start, allowing a run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout in the first inning. Ethan Jaques took the next three innings and earned the victory, improving to 3-0 on the year, allowing no runs on no hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Jackson Elizondo took the fifth, allowing no runs on no hits, a strikeout and two walks. Anthony Treto handled three innings, allowing no runs on no hits, five strikeouts and three walks. Tai Phetluangsy closed things out, per usual, allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout and a walk.
- The Texans remain perfect in true road games this year, improving to 5-0, with the win at No. 2 Texas and a four-game sweep at New Mexico March 6-8.
- The Texans are 8-10 all-time against the 'Jacks, 3-6 all-time in Nacogdoches. The Texans won the last series 2-1 at SFA in 2024, dropping a 2-1 series there in 2022 and being swept there in 1993.
Team Comparison (Tarleton State vs. SFA)
- Batting Average (.295 to .288)
- Slugging Pct. (.480 to .415)
- BB/SO (99/161 to 123/127)
- On-Base Pct. (.409 to .402)
- SB-Att (39-48 to 38-45)
- HR (22 to 13)
- 2B (47 to 42)
- 3B (7 to 5)
- Runs (158 to 155)
- ERA (5.25 to 5.85)
- WHIP (1.48 to 1.60)
- Opp. Batting Avg. (.261 to .284)
- SO/BB (162/89 to 83/189)
NATIONWIDE
Across the nation (and conference), the Texans rank...
- 2nd (1st) in double plays (25)
- 2nd (1st) in double plays per game (1.25)
- 21st (2nd) in doubles per game (2.4)
- 25th (2nd) in doubles (47)
- 27th (1st) in triples (7)
- 58th (1st) in scoring (7.9 runs per game)
BEST WIN EVER
Tarleton State shocked the No. 2 team in the nation on Tuesday, handing the Texas Longhorns just their second loss of the season with a 6-1 win in Austin, Texas.
Tarleton State (13-7) earned its best win in program history, its third win over a Power Four conference team ever, its second this season alone. Texas (18-2) entered the day tied with USC with the tied-fewest losses in the nation at one, but the Texans shut out the Longhorns over the final eight innings to earn the upset bid.
The Texans allowed just one run and two hits on the game to a Texas team who entered the night with the 12th best scoring mark across all of NCAA Division I (9.9 runs per game) and the 15th best batting average (.335). Meanwhile, the Texan offense powered through six runs on eight hits against a Texas pitching staff that ranked No. 3 in the nation in ERA (2.54), No. 4 in WHIP (1.04), and No. 4 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.1).
"I'm proud of the fight and grit this group of young men showed tonight," head coach
Fuller Smith said. "They competed, made pitches, made plays, and got the bigtime hits when we needed. It was a total team win."
Tarleton State's two of three Power Four victories in program history have come in a two-week span, following the Texans' 6-5 win over Baylor at home on March 3. These wins come after Tarleton State's narrow 3-1 loss against No. 7 ranked Arkansas in the fourth game of the season at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 16. Texas, ranked No. 2 in the country, represents the highest ranked opponent Tarleton State has faced in program history. This midweek matchup was the fifth all-time meeting between Tarleton State and Texas, the first in nearly 30 years. The Longhorns were 4-0 all-time against the Texans, all games in Austin, with all previous games played between 1994-97.
The Texans remain perfect in true road games this year, improving to 5-0, with the win at No. 2 Texas and a four-game sweep at New Mexico March 6-8.
On Tuesday, the Texans used five to get the job done.
Brendon Carter got the start, allowing a run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout in the first inning.
Ethan Jaques took the next three innings and earned the victory, improving to 3-0 on the year, allowing no runs on no hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Jackson Elizondo took the fifth, allowing no runs on no hits, a strikeout and two walks.
Anthony Treto handled three innings, allowing no runs on no hits, five strikeouts and three walks.
Tai Phetluangsy closed things out, per usual, allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout and a walk.
Texas earned its lone run on the second at-bat in the bottom half of the first, a solo home run by Carson Tinney. That was the Longhorns' only hit until the ninth inning, with Tarleton State seeing 34 straight Longhorn batters fail to get a hit. With two outs in the ninth inning, the Longhorns got a single for their second hit.
Tarleton State did most of its damage in the fourth inning, turning a one-run deficit into a three-run lead with a four-run frame.
Heinrich extended his hitting streak to 15 games, batting 1-for-2 with a walk, scoring three runs.
Slade McCloud and Lorch each had multi-hit outings, with Lorch going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run, and
Slade McCloud going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run. Heinrich and Lorch each had a stolen base on the night, as well.
Slade McCloud's hitting streak is now at 11 games
ROAD WARRIORS
This season, the Texans are a perfect 5-0 in road games. Tarleton State has had great success playing the Lobos over the past two seasons, going a perfect 8-0 against New Mexico with two four-game series sweeps in each of the past two seasons. This year it was in Albuquerque, with the Texans winning 13-11, 7-3, 15-10 and 9-7. That makes it an 11.0 runs per game series for the Texans, and they collected 54 hits across the four games. New Mexico entered the four-game series with a 12-1 overall mark.
BEAT THE BEARS
The Tarleton State Baseball Complex was rockin' on March 3, as the Texans beat the Baylor Bears in a midweek matchup. This marked the first Power Four conference home victory for Tarleton State in program history.
The Texans beat the Bears 6-5 in front of packed house in Stephenville, winning their second game against Baylor over the past four seasons. The Texans beat the Bears on April 25, 2023, in Waco 6-2, for their first Power 4 victory. And now, after several narrow losses to Power Four teams at home, and a narrow 3-1 loss to No. 7 ranked Arkansas at a neutral site location this year alone, Tarleton State finished the job to send Texan Nation into a frenzy.
After trailing early, Tarleton State scored three unanswered runs between the sixth and seventh innings to take the lead for good. The Texans allowed just a single baserunner in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, then
Tai Phetluangsy closed the door in the ninth with back-to-back strikeouts and an induced foulout to first to earn his second save of the year.
Ethan Jaques earned the win, improving to 2-0, with scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth.
Tarleton State didn't allow a hit over the final three innings, and outhit Baylor 12-7 on the night. Each of the Texans' first eight batters in their lineup got a hit, with four multi-hit outings by
Kendyl Johnson,
Rayner Heinrich,
Slade McCloud and
Carson Lorch. Johnson reached base three times with a double and a walk, and
Slade McCloud had a double, as well. The Bears got eight free passes on the night, five hit by pitches and three walks, but failed to capitalize.
AT LA MODERNA IN CLEBURNE
At La Moderna Field in Cleburne, home of the Cleburne Railroaders, on Feb. 27-March 1, Tarleton State split with Creighton and lost to Texas State. The Texans posted their third comeback victory of the year on Friday (now with seven), to beat the Bluejays 8-7 in walk-off fashion. Tarleton State allowed three runs in the first and trailed 4-1 in the fifth before stringing together a pair of three-run innings and a walk-off RBI single by
Sergio Guerra in the ninth.
After a loss to Texas State, the Texans dropped a 12-inning affair 4-3 against Creighton in the second game. Six of Tarleton State's seven losses have been by four runs or fewer.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT VS. UIW
On Feb. 24, the Texans dropped 17 runs in seven innings on Incarnate Word, their third time scoring double-digit runs in the first eight games of the season. Tarleton State had six batters with multi-hit outings, led by a 4-for-5 day with three RBI by
Slade McCloud. His brother,
Cage McCloud, went 3-for-5 with four RBI and provided the walk-off run-rule three-run home run in the seventh inning.
Jake Tatom went 3-for-4 with four RBI, all coming on a grand slam in the seventh inning.
Sergio Guerra,
Rayner Heinrich and
Kendyl Johnson also had two hits apiece, combining for four doubles, with Heinrich belting a pair.
The Texans scored 11 runs in the seventh inning after entering the frame leading 6-5. This marks the second time this season Tarleton State has scored 10+ runs in a single inning (10 in the third inning in the season opener vs. Le Moyne on Feb. 13).
LET'S GET PERSONAL
All of the Tarleton State players have great stories and unique things about them -- here are some of the most notable...
#2 Ike Shirey
• Trains horses, plays golf, fishes, hunts
• Came to Tarleton State when head coach
Fuller Smith came here
• Plan postgrad is to work in a fire department
#3 Kendyl Johnson
• Was a First Team All District WR for high school football team, chose baseball over football because love of the sport -- belives baseball is a more polished game than football, and he loves the pursuit of the small percentage of success
• Favorite movies are Marvel movies
• Favorite shows are anime related
• Favorite video games are Minecraft and Call of Duty
• Favorite memory from his time thus far at Tarleton State have been Bible studies on Fridays and the side quests he goes on with his teammates
• Plan postgrad is to play professional baseball, then be an entrepreneur
• Dad played overseas basketball (Anthony Johnson), and his cousin was part of the infamous Butt Fumble (offensive lineman Brandon Moore)
#4 Brady Englett
• Was born in Alabama, lived there until he was 4 years old (Mobile)
• Was a football state champion at safety in high school
• Likes to hunt, hang out with friends
• Rocky IV is favorite movie
• Favorite video game is NBA 2K
• His dad, Todd, played Single A baseball in the Pirates organization
#5 Jake Tatom
• Likes to golf and fish
• Played for
Fuller Smith at Sam Houston
• Plan postgrad is to coach high school baseball
#6 Carson Lorch
• Big Star Wars fan (especially Revenge of the Sith), and also likes Marvel movies
• Big video game player (Call of Duty, Fallout, Pokemon)
• Favorite shows are The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones
• Plan postgrad is to play professional baseball and then enter the sales business
#7 Karsen Davis
• Is a second degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, been doing it his whole life
• Big-time golfer, has a five handicap
• Plan postgrad is to open up a tint shop
#8 Rayner Heinrich
• Goes by Baywatch
• Likes to fish and hunt
• Favorite movie is Step Brothers
• Favorite video game is MLB The Show
#10 Matt Guthmiller
• Started getting into duck hunting
• Enjoys to play golf every now and then
• Favorite move is Fast and Furious
• Favorite show is Shooter
#11 Sergio Guerra
• Big hunter, sells deer on the ranch back home
• His dad played professional baseball in the Indians organization (Pete, catcher for the Double-A team)
#12 Raphael Smeenk
• Plays pool and card games
• Favorite movie is Moneyball
• His great grandpa played professional soccer in Brazil
#13 Cage McCloud
• Says he's a scratch golfer
• Favorite show is Big Brother
• Favorite video game is Fortnite
• Joined the Texans to play with his brother
• Plan postgrad is to open a business, a high-fence ranch
#14 Chris Ricard
• Spends a lot of time outdoors a lot in a small town in Idaho, spends a lot of time in the mountains
• Favorite shows are Landman, Yellowstone
• Plan postgrad is to become a strength and conditioning coach
• Favorite memory at Tarleton State was going to the lakehouse in Granbury with team
• Dad is a logtruck driver, mom works with kids with special needs
#15 Mason Kirk
• Getting married this summer to Lindsay after five years
• Watches Big Brother
• Plan postgrad is to work somewhere in finance, ideally front office of a professional sports team, will get MBA next year here at Tarleton State.
• Favorite memory at Tarleton State was winning the WAC Tournament his freshman year, dogpiling after.
#17 Slade McCloud
• Hunts, fishes, golfs, takes his boxer dog Shep on walks, boxer Shep
• Favorite memory at Tarleton State was winning the WAC Tournament
#18 Tai Phetluangsy
• Wakeboards sometimes, tries to golf
• Favorite movie is Fury
• Favorite show is The Pacific
• Plan postgrad is to be a collegiate coach
• Favorite memory since being here have been the Bible studies
• His dad is in the Marines
#19 Ethan Downum
• Hunts a lot, fishes
• Favorite show is Vikings or Last Kingdom
• Favorite movie is Gladiator
#20 Braden Gostisha
• Has a identical twin, Conner, who is working back home
• Fishes, hunts, golfs
• Favorite shows are Landman and Yellowstone
• Favorite movie is Interstellar
#21 Brian Panneton
• Used to competiveily waterski, ended his junior year in high school -- started at 5 years old, parents met on the waterski team at Texas A&M, stopped because of baseball
• Still waterskis for fun and for good exercise
• Cooks a lot, specialty is steak
TSU coaches and the culture
• Plan postgrad is to play professional baseball, and then financial planning
• Chose Tarleton State partially after lessons with Chad Fox – had an influence in him coming here
#23 Cullen Kickhoefer
• Says he's a goofy guy, likes to have fun, constantly trying to have a good time and make people laugh
• Hunts, fishes, wood work
• Favorite shows are The Sopranos and Dexter
• Favorite movies are Goodfellas and The Godfather
• His uncle played basketball at Navy, cousin designs missiles for the Navy
#24 Aden Lucas
• Likes to golf, play the guitar, played the last five years
• Favorite show is Suits
• Plan postgrad is to enter construction field and eventually become a superintendent
#25 Daniel Bass
• Senior year of high school was his first season playing consistent baseball
• Likes to bow hunt
• Favorite show is The 100
#26 Kobe Minchey
• Born in Japan, dad played baseball in Japan so back and forth as a kid
• Was ranked ninth in the US in Pokemon as a kid
• Hiked a 14,000 Red Cloud
• Missed last year because of Tommy John
• Favorite show is Criminal Minds
#27 Ethan Jaques
• Golfs
• Favorite shows are Suits and Breaking Bad
• Interstellar is favorite movie
#28 Cort Lowry
• Is big into duck hunting
• Considers himself a cowboy, an amateur golfer, semi-pro Fortnite player
• Plan postgrad is to be an electrician
• Favorite memory since being here was being part of the Tarpless Texans in the football playoff games
#29 Conner Doucet
• Had three heart surgeries from 18-19 years old
• Has a dog from the shelter here, Nala – breed is lab mix
• Favorite show is Peaky Blinders
• Favorite movie is Hook
• Favorite video game is Sea of Thieves
• Considers himself a semi-pro ping pong player
#30 Ashton Bassett
• Golfs, fishes, hunts
• Has webbed toes
• Favorite video game is NBA 2K
Favorite shows are Friends, Ted Lasso, Grey's Anatomy
• Plan postgrad is to play professional baseball and then be an anesthesiology assistant
• His grandpa was a LHP at Miami – went onto the Mets organization, the Triple-A team (Richard Bassett)
#31 Anthony Treto
• Has a ton of hobbies, likes to do as much as he can to stay out of the house (bowling, golf, fishing, hunting)
• Favorite show is SWAT
• Favorite movie is 300
• Favorite memory is the Tarpless Texans and being part of the group at the football playoff games
• Plan postgrad is to follow father's footsteps in sales, maybe work alongside him, but wants to play baseball as long as he can
#32 Corbin Walter
• Used to play football, sophomore year, stopped to focus on baseball
• Fishes and races cars sometimes
• Favorite movie is Ford vs. Ferrari
#33 Kasey Swan
• Hunts, fishes, attempts to golf
• Plan postgrad is to enter the oil and gas field
#34 Ethan Wendel
• Owns a lot of animals back home, dogs, cats and ducks
• Favorite Show is Peaky Blinders
• Favorite movie is Transformers
• Hunts, fishes
• Plan postgrad is to be a sports agent
#35 Andrew Hardin
• Likes MLB The Show
• Hunts, fishes
• Favorite movie is Moneyball
• Plan postgrad is to be a chiropractor
• Dad played college baseball at Texas Tech
#36 Ben Bosse
• Likes to fly fish and bow hunt
• Likes the show 1923
• Chose Tarleton State partially because of the master's program
• Plan postgrad is to study and work with wildlife, especially quail and duck habitats, wetlands
#37 Carter Coffin
• Big-time outdoorsman, fishing, hunting
•Plan postgrad is to go to game warden school
#38 Tyson Drake
• Golfs, fishes, hunts
• Favorite memory at Tarleton State has been winning the WAC Tournament, getting to spend a week with the boys
• Plan postgrad is to get his CPA or work in the bank somewhere
• His dad is a seven-time state champion football coach (Robert Drake)
#39 Brendon Carter
• Played hockey for 12 years, gave it up when he was 15 to pursue baseball -- he was a defenseman, played travel hockey, played in Dallas a lot
• Watches a bunch of Netflix, favorite shows are Peaky Blinders and Landman
• Favorite movie is Miracle on Ice
• Plan postgrad is to be a physical therapist
#40 Matthew McCullough
• Plays video games, hunts, fishes,
• Has a lot of family who went to Tarleton State, including his mom and dad, who met here, and his brothers
• Uncle played basketball at Southeastern, cousin plays basketball in Nebraska Wesleyan
#43 Jack Lovin
• Can play the piano, has been playing since he was 3 years old
• Likes to ski, been a lifelong skier
• Favorite show is Breaking Bad
• Favorite memory has been going to head coach
Fuller Smith's lakehouse with the team and riding the jet skis
• Plan postgrad run is to run his own business
UP NEXT
The Texans wrap up their five-game road trip at Lamar on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before hosting a three-game series against Air Force on March 27-29.
