A total of 38 players from around the country have been selected to take part in the six-day tryout before the roster is whittled to 22 players on July 12.

Smith learned of the news on Thursday morning.

“Coach Harrington called me this morning and told me that I made the tryout,” Smith said. “I’m excited to get out there with the opportunity to play for Team USA.”

Smith, a native of Midland, Texas, recently completed his first season with the Bobcats after playing one season at Grayson County Community College. The ace of head coach Ty Harrington’s pitching staff, Smith received Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year accolades this season after posting a 10-4 record and 3.10 earned run average. He struck out 94 batters while throwing six complete games, including three shutouts.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander also made his mark on the Texas State record book as his three shutouts tied him for the highest single-season total in the program’s history. His 10 wins tied him for fourth most in single-season history, while his 94 strikeouts are the 10th most in a season.

“It’s certainly an honor to have Carson represent our team, university and possibly our country with the invitation to tryout for the USA Baseball National Team,” Harrington said. “He is an excellent player and has proven it time-and-time on the field this season. I know he’ll excel at this opportunity, and we’re all very excited to see what happens.”

Smith, the first-ever Texas State baseball player to receive an invitation for the national team, will gear up for the tryout over the next month with his summer baseball team in Santa Barbara, Calif.

If selected for the final roster, Smith will have the opportunity to play in several different cities in the United States before traveling to Taiwan and then Japan, the location of the 2010 FISU World University Baseball Championships. The Championships will run from July 30 to August 7 in Tokyo.

http://www.bookstore.txstate.edu/p-10851-baseball-southland-conference-2010.aspx

Go Bobcats!

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.

Texas State (31-19; 21-9 SLC) enters Tuesday’s contest in its 10^th 30-win season under head coach Ty Harrington. The Bobcats have taken nonconference wins over Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor this season and look to continue the stellar season. The Bobcats will meet PVAMU for the 37^th time on Tuesday and have not lost a game to the foe since Apr. 16, 1987.

The Bobcats are coming off a 1-3 week that saw the team fall 10-5 to a ranked TCU squad and drop two of three games to Nicholls in Southland Conference play, all resulting in the loss of a national ranking.

Prairie View (12-34; 6-17 SWAC) is on a five-game losing streak and has only five of its past 20 contests. In SWAC action, the Panthers took a 19-9 victory over Grambling State on May 2 to end a three-game span without a win.

Texas State will pit a .309 batting average against Prairie View’s .282 collective mark. Red shirt junior Clint Vest has hit safely in the past five games, including a 2-for-4 effort against TCU, and leads the team hitting .375. Six Bobcats follow hitting .300 or better, including Kyle Kubitza who has hit a team-best nine home runs.

For the Panthers, Jason Thomas leads the charge, hitting .331 with nine hits for extra bases and 27 RBI. Evan Richard and Kyle Bible have each tagged pitcher’s for a team-best three home runs.

Texas State’s pitching staff shows a 4.73 ERA led by reliever Jeff McVaney’s 1.86 ERA. In 19.1 innings pitched, the sophomore is 1-0 with 11 strikeouts.

Prairie View will counter with a 7.15 staff ERA. Benjamin Blackburn is atop the list with a 3-9 record and 5.62 ERA in 88.0 innings pitched.

Following Tuesday’s game, Texas State will have a short one-day rest before hosting UT Arlington in its final SLC series of the season. First pitch of the three-game series is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Friday’s game will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Saturday’s season finale set to begin at 1 p.m.

Live stats for this week’s events will be available on the Texas State athletics web site, www.txstatebobcats.com. A live broadcast will be available for Tuesday’s game and the first two games of the UTA series.

Texas State fell to 30-17 with the loss, while TCU improved to 37-10.

The Horned Frogs held a 15-11 hit margin, led by a 4-for-5 effort from Matt Curry. Clint Vest, Kyle Livingstone and Bret Atwood all tallied a pair of hits towards Texas State’s number.

The offense started off with a bang as Livingstone doubled to left in the first and Atwood came behind with a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line put Texas State in scoring position. TCU starter Paul Gerrish walked Jason Martinson to load the bases and Jeff McVaney took note of the situation, belting a double to left center to score two.

TCU slowly chipped away at the lead with seven hits, starting with a leadoff homer from Jimmie Pharr. The Horned Frogs followed with three-straight singles to load the bases and a Jantzen Witte double cleared the diamond for a 4-2 TCU edge. Two more RBI doubles followed to top the six-run inning.

Despite the deficit, Texas State still had fight and two TCU errors in the bottom of the second allowed the Bobcats to score three and trail the foe by one run.

Hurlers Trent Appleby and Fielding Pittman held their respective opponents scoreless through the third and both teams remaining scoreless until the sixth.

It was TCU that broke the silence with a triple, followed by a sacrifice fly. The foe added a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to seal the win.

In tonight’s no decision for Lee Colon, the southpaw tossed four solid innings, allowing only two runs off three hits with a game-high five strikeouts. Brian Borski was handed the loss tonight and fell to 1-8.

Texas State will move on to Southland Conference play this weekend when they travel to Thibodaux, Louisiana to face Nicholls. The three-game weekend series is slated to begin Friday night at 6 p.m.

TCU and Texas State last met Mar. 23 at Lupton Field when the Bobcats were blanked 4-0 by the Horned Frogs. Texas State will look to avenge the loss riding the waves of its successful season so far. The Bobcats are 30-16 overall and 20-7 in Southland Conference action. The 30-win season is the 10^th in head coach Ty Harrington’s 11 years as skipper.

The game will also serve as Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night for all Texas State employees. A discounted $5 ticket will be available to all faculty and staff, as well as free refreshments throughout the night in a reserved area.

TCU enters Wednesday’s game 36-10 overall and 16-4 in the Mountain West. The Horned Frogs are led by head coach Jim Schlossnagle in his sixth season at the school. Last season, TCU claimed the MWC Championship under Schlossnagle’s guidance, hosted and won the Ft. Worth Regional and advanced to the Austin Super Regional.

89.9 KTSW FM will air the game, and gametracker can be found on txstatebobcats.com

Smith (6-3) shut down the side in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings in order, including a fanned side in the fourth. The sophomore used 87 pitches and picked up Texas State’s first complete-game shutout since Zach Tritz tossed a 10-0 seven-inning win against Stephen F. Austin on March 28.

McVaney hit safely in his fourth-consecutive game tonight, putting Texas State on the board with a lead-off homer lined to left in the second frame. The sophomore followed up with a single and an RBI triple to support the team’s 12-hit effort.

Seven Bobcats offered hits in tonight’s game, including Daniel Neumann’s RBI single in the second that brought home Kyle Kubitza (walk) to make it a 2-0 game. Laurn Randell followed Neumann with a base hit through the left side to bring in Clint Vest (walk) and Bret Atwood closed out the Bobcats four-run inning with an RBI base hit to left.

Jason Martinson tacked on another run in the third with a double hit to right center and Kyle Livingstone extended the lead to 7-0 with a two-run home run, his sixth of the season, in the fourth inning.

Texas State (26-14, 16-6 SLC) roped in another run in the fifth and a pair of runs in the sixth to close out the victory.

UTSA (14-25, 5-17 SLC) had just two runners reach second base and left three stranded in the loss. Ryan Rummel and Jeff Taliaferro notched the pair of Roadrunner hits.

Casey Selsor took the loss, allowing seven runs off eight hits in 3.2 innings. The southpaw fell to 4-6 on the season.

The second game of the I 35 Rivalry Series is set for tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, at Bobcat Field. Michael Russo will take the mound for Texas State and first pitch is set for 2 p.m.

Tonight’s win gives Texas State its first victory over Baylor this season and improves the team’s overall record to 22-13. Baylor falls to 22-15 with the loss.

A double followed by an RBI single in the top of the first was all Baylor could muster under Pitts’ reign. The right-hander retired five of his seven innings in order, including the sixth and seventh that began and ended with strikeouts.

The Bobcats countered the Bears lone run in the first with a five-run bottom half. Laurn Randell drew a leadoff walk and a failed pick-off attempt put the senior on third base. Jason Martinson came behind and drove in Randell with an RBI single, and came home shortly, along with Bret Atwood and Jeff McVaney on a three-run double deep to right center from Kyle Livingstone. Texas State’s wrapped up the first inning with a 4-1 lead after Daniel Neumann pushed Livingstone across with a sacrifice fly.

Kyle Kubitza took the Bobcats lead to 7-1 with a two-run homer to left center in the third inning. The sophomore blasted a second bomb in the eighth, giving the Texas State its final run and finishing the night 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Randell scored Texas State’s eighth run on a sac fly from Martinson in the fourth after being hit by a pitch to reach base.

After the first frame, the Bobcats defensive efforts and solid relief held the Bears scoreless for seven innings. Baylor broke through in the ninth with a two-run home run from Cal Towey.

Texas State outhit Baylor 7-6 in tonight’s decision, and the Bears committed two errors to the Bobcats one.

Crayton Bare was saddled with the loss for Baylor and fell to 0-1.

Texas State will remain at home this weekend for a three-game Southland Conference series against No. 30 Northwestern State. First pitch Friday night is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s game will begin at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale is set for 1 p.m.

The Texas State baseball team enjoyed a lead over fourth-ranked Texas until the eighth inning when a costly error changed the pace of the game and the Longhorns took a 6-5 win over the Bobcats Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The loss puts Texas State at 20-11 on the season, while Texas jumps to 27-7, takings its ninth-straight game.

The Bobcats clung to a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth and needed just one out to retire the inning, but a shallow popup to right field tipped Laurn Randell’s glove and a run trickled in to the plate. Junior Paul Montalbano continued the rally, lacing a triple to the left center wall to bring in the final pair of runs in Texas’ three-run comeback.

“Defense is something that’s really important and critical in this game,” said head coach Ty Harrington. “In tonight’s game we saw that, especially at the end. I think both teams pitched exceptionally well and played competitively, but defense decided tonight’s game.”

Texas State finished with two errors to Texas’ one on the night.

Brian Borski held his own in a six-inning stay in tonight’s no decision. The junior scattered seven hits and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, with five strikeouts.

Keifer Nuncio earned the win for Texas after 1 1/3 of scoreless relief. Chance Ruffin picked up his ninth save of the season with a one-hit scoreless ninth.

Sam Stafford shut down Texas State with a three-up, three-down first, but the Bobcats took advantage of Texas’ struggle from the mound to spark an early lead. Kyle Kubitza was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Kyle Livingstone came behind with base hit to push him to the corner and designated hitter Jeff McVaney brought in the first run of the game with a base hit just out of reach of Tant Shepherd’s glove at first base. With a pair of runners on, Andrew Stumph belted the Bobcats first home run against Texas in Austin since 2008, a three-run shot to left center to give the team a 4-0 lead.

Borski retired the third in order and fanned two batters to close out the fourth, but not before Texas could push two across. Tant Shepherd started the rally with a single up the middle and Borski walked Cameron Rupp to put runners in scoring position. Russell Moldenhauer took the challenge with a double of the centerfield wall to score one and Kevin Keyes followed with an RBI single through the left side.

Texas State bounced back with an RBI double in the sixth from Clint Vest, and the Longhorns threatened in their half with an unearned run. Kevin Lusson reached on a base hit into shallow right and a single and an error pushed the unearned run across to trim the lead before taking over in the eighth.

“We’ve got to learn from tonight’s game, have a short memory and move on,” added Harrington. “We’ll take something from this, especially how to keep our competitive nature, but we have to work on finishing our game.”

Texas State remains on the road this weekend, traveling to Hammond, Louisiana for a three-game Southland Conference series with Southeastern Louisiana. The Bobcats currently lead the league standings with a 12-3 record, while the Lions trail in second place, 10-5.

Texas State is now 10-3 in Southland Conference play and 18-10 overall, while UCA drops to 3-10 and 9-20, respectively.

Randell catapulted the Bobcats offense with a leadoff base hit into centerfield and five hits rounded out the innings for a 7-0 lead out of the gate.

“I thought our energy level tonight before the game started was really good,” said head coach Ty Harrington. “It was different from Tuesday night and our performance showed it.”

With two outs in the first, Randell had another turn at bat and sent the final run of the frame across, driving a triple to left center.

Texas State tacked on two runs in the second and closed out scoring with five runs in the fifth with help from Randell, again. The senior followed up a single from Clint Vest with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left center. A pair of walks set the stage for Jeff McVaney to repeat the feat, and a three-run homer to left center set a sizeable margin between the two teams.

All but two Bobcats finished with a hit in tonight’s 14-hit effort. McVaney finished with a game-high five RBI, while Randell was a double shy of hitting for the cycle in his five-hit night.

“In Randell’s final at-bat, I thought he was unbelievable stretching out the triple,” said Harrington. “If he holds up at second, he hits for the cycle which is a hitter’s dream, but he played the game as hard as he could, which is all he knows, and that shows so much more.”

With the Bobcats offensive efforts taken care of, Carson Smith maintained the edge on the mound. The sophomore earned his fourth win of the season after a seven-inning stretch that surrendered just four hits and two runs, neither of which were earned, along with recording four strikeouts.

“I thought Carson was responsible for a lot of the momentum tonight,” added Harrington. “We had three double plays to help him on the mound and he kept his focus, stayed solid throughout the night and did a great job.”

In the top of the sixth, UCA scored their only pair of unearned runs on two outs with a sacrifice fly and an RBI base hit from Blake Roberts.

Reece Cross, who went 2/3 of an inning to open the game, was tagged with the loss and fell to 0-4.

Tomorrow’s game against UCA is set for 2 p.m. Michael Russo is set to face LHP Dustin Ward.