ARLINGTON, Texas – The UTA baseball team will wrap up the 2019 regular season this weekend with a three-game series at Bobcat Ballpark against in-state rival Texas State with the Sun Belt Conference regular season title on the line.

Thursday and Friday's games will have a 6:00 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday's contest will be a 1:00 p.m. start.

MATCHUP: UTA (30-22, 16-10 SBC) at Texas State (34-17, 18-9 SBC)
WHEN: Thursday, May 16 | 6:00 p.m.
Friday, May 17 | 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 18 | 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: San Marcos, Texas | Bobcat Ballpark
GAME 1: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
GAME 2: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
GAME 3: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

PROJECTED STARTERS
Thursday: TXST RHP Nicholas Fraze (6-3, 4.42 ERA) vs. UTA LHP Drew Gooch (3-3, 3.83 ERA)
Friday: TXST RHP Hunter McMahon (5-5, 4.56 ERA) vs. UTA RHP David Moffat (4-4, 3.67 ERA)
Saturday: TXST RHP Connor Reich (8-1, 3.76 ERA) vs. UTA TBA

SBC TITLE SCENARIOS
Heading into the final series of the regular season, the Mavericks control their own destiny when it comes to the Sun Belt regular season title. UTA will need to sweep Texas State in order to win the SBC West Division and lock up the No. 1 seed for the SBC Tourney.

UTA NOTES
• The Mavericks picked up the 1,400th win in program history on Saturday, March 30, defeating South Alabama 9-7 at Clay Gould Ballpark.
• The Mavs are 30-22 overall and are in 2nd place in the West Division of the Sun Belt standings (16-10 SBC).
• The Mavericks are 16-12 on the road this season.
• Connor Aube (.331 batting avg.), Anthony Dominguez (.305) and Will Olson (.293) lead the Mavs at the dish.
• UTA is currently sixth in the Sun Belt in batting average, hitting a combined .272 as a team.
• Andrew Gross leads the Sun Belt and the nation in saves (17).
• Andrew Gross is closing in on Sun Belt single-season records for saves. Gross became UTA's leader in single-season saves with his save in UTA's 6-3 win over No. 19 TCU on April 16. The SBC record for saves in a season is 18 (Hugh Adams - FAU, 2013).

UP NEXT
Following the 3-game series at Texas State, the Mavs will prepare for the 2019 Sun Belt Championships in Conway, S.C. The championship will be held May 21-26 and played at Coastal Carolina's Springs Brooks Stadium.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | TEXAS STATE
• Texas State is hitting .277 as a team.
• Dalton Shuffield leads the squad with a .335 batting average.
• The Bobcats have 5 players hitting .300+ on the season.
• 9 Texas State players have multiple HRs on the season (46 total), led by John Wuthrich's 7 homers.
• The Bobcat pitching staff currently owns a 4.48 ERA and has struck out 407 batters in 454.1 innings pitched.
• Opposing hitters are hitting .254 against Texas State.
• The Bobcats have lost 3 of their last 5 games.
• Texas State is 17-7 at home this season.

SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP TIX
2019 Sun Belt Baseball Championship tickets are on sale now. Coastal Carolina will host the conference championship tournament this year at Springs Brooks Stadium from May 21-26.

The top 10 teams in the Sun Belt will play for the conference championship as well as an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Baseball Championship Tournament.

Both All-Tournament passes and single game tickets can be purchased by calling the Chanticleer Athletics Ticket Office at 843-347-8499, by going online HERE.

All-Tournament passes are $75-$110 and are the most cost-effective way to enjoy all six days of the conference championship event at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Single game tickets start at just $10 per game and can be purchased ahead of time by contacting the ticket office or by going online. Tickets can also be purchased during the tournament at the baseball ticket window located next to Gate 2 at Springs Brooks Stadium.

SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
The top two teams in each division will earn the No 1 and No. 2 seeds for the championship with the No. 1 seed being the team that has the highest conference winning percentage between the two division winners.
After that, seeds 3-10 will be determined based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division.

LAST TIME OUT | UTA FALLS AT NO. 12 BAYLOR
No. 12 Baylor registered 14 hits en route to a 12-2 (7 inn.) non-conference win over UTA on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.

With the loss, the Mavericks fall to 30-22 overall, while the Bears improve to 33-13 on the year.

The Mavs were limited to seven hits on the night. Tyler Rice (2-for-3) and Aaron Funk (2-for-3, 2B) led the way for the Mavs offensively. Will Olson went 1-for-2 with a homer, a run scored and a pair of RBI.

The Bears jumped out to a 10-0 lead by the fifth inning and rolled past the Mavericks to secure their 33rd win on the season.

UTA's runs came in the top of the sixth inning when Olson launched a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right field for his sixth homer of the campaign.

WATCHIN' THE WATCH LISTS
UTA has had a trio of student-athletes named to Watch Lists for Postseason Awards.

UTA senior right-hander Andrew Gross has been named to the Midseason Watch List for the 15th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award. The NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award is given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.

Gross was one of 45 players named to the list. The midseason list includes five players who were on the preseason watch list released in February, including Stanford's Jake Little, who is the only returner among last year's five finalists for the award.
Redshirt senior Will Olson and junior Connor Aube were named to the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List. The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award is presented by SR Bats.

The BBCSA, created by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation, was open to nominations from all Division I baseball programs in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.  The award is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity. The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award has had two winners to date, Hunter Hargrove (Texas Tech, drafted by the Oakland A's) and Devlin Granberg (Dallas Baptist, drafted by the Boston Red Sox).

Olson was also selected to the watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award (formerly the Johnny Bench Award).

FOLLOW THE MAVS 
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