BOGO Season Finale

The Texas State baseball team is tied for first place in the Southland Conference and is on the brink of claiming its second-straight regular season title. The Bobcats close out the 2010 season at home this week when they play host to UT Arlington in a three-game series, beginning Thursday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and the series will continue Friday at 6:30 p.m. and conclude Saturday at 1 p.m.

Texas State is offering a buy one, get one free ticket package for both Thursday’s and Friday’s game. Saturday, all kids 17 and under will receive free admission. Throughout the entire series, Bobcat concessions will offer $1 hot dogs and snow cones. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Texas State Ticket Office at 512.245.2272.

Prior to first pitch on Saturday, head coach Ty Harrington will honor the 2010 senior class of Kyle Livingstone, Laurn Randell, Jordan Kopycinski, Shaun Garcia and Michael Russo in a pre-game ceremony.

All three games can be followed on Gametracker while a radio broadcast of the series can be heard on 89.9 KTSW FM.

Texas State (32-19, 21-9 Southland) is tied with Southeastern Louisiana (39-14, 21-9 Southland) entering the final games of the regular season. The Lions own the tie-breaking series over the Bobcats after taking two-of-three games earlier this season in Hammond, Louisiana. SLU will have a tough test this week, taking on third-place Northwestern State (33-19, 19-10 Southland) at home.

Both the Bobcats overall hitting and pitching numbers ranked No. 3 in the league. As a team, Texas State is hitting .313 led by a booming .375 average from Kyle Livingstone. The senior has hit 23 balls for extra bases, including a team-high nine home runs. In Tuesday night’s 16-6 win over Prairie View A&M, Livingstone belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to highlight Texas State’s ten-run inning. Six Bobcats join Livingstone hitting over .300 this season.

On the mound, staff ace Carson Smith leads the team with a 2.83 ERA. In 92.1 innings pitched, the sophomore has fanned a team-best 84 batters (No. 5-SLC) and is 8-3 with three saves and five complete games under his belt. In his last stint on the hill, Smith tossed a four-hit complete game shutout to Nicholls to aid Texas State’s 5-0 victory.

UT Arlington will enter the series with a .298 collective batting average and a 6.03 staff ERA. The numbers fall slightly below the Bobcats bite, but the Mavericks house the league’s top hitter in Michael Choice and this season’s strikeout leader Jason Mitchell. Choice is batting .397 with 27 hits for extra bases that include 16 home runs. In Mitchells 98.2 innings pitched this season he has struck out 105 batters.

Smith and Mitchell will face off Thursday night on the mound in a sure-fire pitcher’s duel. Saturday, Michael Russo (4-1, 4.24 ERA) will battle Rett Varner (6-5, 4.11 ERA) and Sunday’s series finale will feature Mitchell Pitts (5-1, 4.20 ERA) and Logan Bawcom (5-4, 4.14 ERA).

Last season, Texas State met UTA in Arlington and split a two-game series. The final game was cancelled due to weather. Overall, Texas State leads the all-time series against UTA, 43-23.