Seattle University (10-13, 2-1 WAC) at Texas State University (9-14, 2-1 WAC)Bobcat Baseball Ballpark - San Marcos, TexasThursday, March 28: 6:30 p.m., Friday, March 29: 4:00 p.m.,Saturday, March 30: 11:00 a.m.
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: Seattle University continues its six-game Spring Break road trip, traveling from Ruston, Louisiana, to San Marcos, Texas, for a three-game series against the Texas State Bobcats over Easter weekend. This will just about conclude the first half of the 2013 season in which Seattle U will play 19 of its first 26 games away from its home field. The Redhawks have won four consecutive weekend series, three of them away from home, and another series win will keep Seattle U near the top of the WAC standings.
LAST WEEKEND: Seattle University made its first-ever trip to Ruston, Louisiana, and took two of three games from Louisiana Tech in a series that ran Saturday through Monday. In the opening game of the series Saturday, Louisiana Tech scored twice in the first inning and two more runs in the fourth inning for an early 4-0 lead. The Redhawks had their chances to come back, but they left 10 runners on base as the Bulldogs went on to win, 5-2. Sunday’s game was an offensive shootout that went back and forth. Seattle U went ahead 2-0 before Louisiana Tech scored five runs in the third inning. The Redhawks responded with four runs in the fourth inning, but the Bulldogs stormed back to take an 8-6 lead after six innings. Seattle U scored three runs in the eighth, including home runs by
Chase Fields and
Sean Narby, and three runs in the ninth. Meanwhile,
Eric Yardley pitched the final two innings and held off Louisiana Tech for a 12-8 victory. That momentum seemed to carry over into Monday’s rubber game, as the Redhawks scored six runs in the first three innings.
Skyler Genger pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Yardley earned another save in Seattle U’s 7-4 victory.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE: The Bobcats are 9-14 overall entering a game at the University of Texas Tuesday night. Texas State took two of three games at New Mexico State over the opening weekend of WAC play. As a team, the Bobcats have combined for a .262 batting average, a .963 fielding percentage, and a 5.14 earned run average. Cody Lovejoy leads the team with a .365 batting average. Garrett Mattlage, the only Bobcat to start all 23 games so far this season, is batting .319 with 29 hits, including six doubles, a triple, and a home run, 18 runs scored, and 14 runs batted in. Kevin Sah has contributed a .317 batting average along with a team-high eight stolen bases. On the mound, Donnie Hart leads the team with 16 appearances, while Lucas Humpal is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 13 appearances out of the bullpen.
AROUND THE WAC: The first weekend of WAC play saw all five series go 2-1 in favor of one squad, creating a five-way tie for first place and a five-way tie for sixth place. Seattle U and Texas State is the only matchup in which both teams went 2-1 during the opening series. San Jose State travels to San Antonio to face UTSA in a battle of 1-2 teams. Preseason favorite Dallas Baptist (2-1) welcomes defending regular season champion Sacramento State (1-2) to its new park. CSU Bakersfield (2-1) hosts New Mexico State (1-2), and UT Arlington (2-1) heads east to face Louisiana Tech (1-2) in the only series that will conclude on Eastern Sunday.
WEATHER FORECAST: Thursday in San Marcos, there is a 30% chance of showers with temperatures falling into the 60s. Friday, the forecast calls for a few clouds to stick around with temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s. Saturday calls for partly cloudy skies with the temperature potentially reaching 80 degrees.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: Due to a prior commitment, Dan Giuliani is unable to accompany the team on the Spring Break road trip to Louisiana Tech and Texas State. Links to live stats, live audio, and live video are available from the baseball schedule page on GoSeattleU.com.
