South Alabama Jaguars (22-13, 10-4 SBC)
vs.
Texas State Bobcats (20-16-1, 8-7 SBC)

April 20-22 • Bobcat Ballpark • San Marcos, Texas

Game 1 - Fri., April 20 - 3 p.m. 
Game 2 - Fri., April 20 - TBA
Game 3 - Sun., April 22 - 12:30 p.m.        

Media Information
Live Stream:  All three games of the series will be streamed live and available through Bobcats All-Access at TXStateBobcats.com

On the Radio:  Every Jaguar baseball game is broadcast live in Mobile on 99.5 FM The Jag, and available worldwide via the iHeartRadio app. 

Live Stats:  Live stats for every South Alabama baseball game are available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com.

Twitter:  Follow the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball — @WeAreSouth_BSB — for news and updates.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri., April 20 (Game 1 of DH)
USA - RHP  Tyler Carr (6-2, 3.45 ERA)
TXST - RHP  Connor Reich (5-2, 3.35 ERA)

Fri., April 20 (Game 2 of DH)
USA - LHP  Jared Proctor (2-0, 1.93 ERA)
TXST - RHP  Nicholas Fraze (4-2, 1.21 ERA)

Sun., April 22
USA - RHP  Noah Michael (1-1, 5.17 ERA)
TXST - TBA

 All-Time Series
South Alabama holds a 10-2 all-time lead over Texas State in a series that began in 2014. The Jaguars have swept the series the last two seasons, taking three games in San Marcos in 2016, as well as three wins at Stanky Field last season. The Bobcats' last win in the series came in an 8-7 decision in the 2015 series finale. USA is 5-1 all-time at Texas State.

Last Meeting
USA swept three games from Texas State last season at Stanky Field. The Jags outscored the Bobcats 24-12 in the three-game set, and hit .272 with eight doubles, one home run and 19 RBIs. The Jaguar pitching staff posted a 3.67 team ERA in the series, led by right-hander Randy Bell's complete-game win in the series opener who struck out eight over nine innings in the win. Texas State batted .243 in the series while the Bobcat pitching staff posted a 6.75 ERA. Colton Thomas led the Jags with a .500 batting average in the series, followed by Paul Russo who hit .444 and drove in five runs in three contests.

Jag Notes
• South Alabama enters the game on a five-game win streak after defeating New Orleans 15-9 Wednesday in New Orleans. The Jags defeated Alabama State 18-7 on April 10 in Montgomery, Ala., followed by a three-game sweep of Georgia Southern in a Sun Belt Conference East Division series last weekend at Stanky Field. 

• USA batted .381 with five doubles, one triple, six home runs, 42 RBIs, 46 runs scored and one stolen base while posting a .458 team on-base percentage in four games last week. Paul Russo led the Jags at the plate, hitting .667 (10-for-15) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, five runs scored and a 1.734 OPS in four contests.

• The Jaguars have played eight nationally-ranked opponents this season. USA is 3-8 against top-25 competition, with wins over No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 18 Coastal Carolina and No. 13 Southern Miss, and losses to No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 16 LSU, No. 18 Auburn and No. 23 Indiana. 

• South Alabama ranks seventh nationally in walks (215), which ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference behind Coastal Carolina (229).

• The Jaguars rank 20th nationally in fielding percentage (.979), which tied for the Sun Belt lead entering the weekend. USA entered last week with a six-game errorless streak, but committed two at Alabama State on April 10, and also committted one error in the series finale with Georgia Southern last Sunday. USA was also charged with one error in Wednesday's win at New Orleans.

SWAGGERTY DURING HIT STREAK
Travis Swaggerty is batting .351 (13-for-37) with four home runs, 12 RBIs, 14 runs scored, two stolen bases, 10 walks, .520 OBP and .676 slugging percentage in his current 10-game hitting streak. Swaggerty has also driven in runs in seven of 10 games during that span.

STOKES' HITTING STREAK SNAPPED
Second baseman Hunter Stokes saw his seven-game hit streak end Wednesday at New Orleans; however, in his last 10 games Stokes is hitting .306 with six RBIs, 11 runs scored, seven walks and a .419 OBP.

PERKINS ON HOT STREAK
Jaguar catcher Carter Perkins is batting .417 with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs, eight runs scored, .500 OBP and .639 slugging percentage in his last 10 games, dating back to the March 30 series opener with Appalachian State. Perkins has hit safely in eight of 10 games and recorded five multiple-hit games in that span, including a career-high four hits in Wednesday's win at New Orleans in which he homered twice and tied his career high in RBIs (4). 

JAGS IN APRIL
South Alabama is batting .321 with 11 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 72 RBIs, 79 runs scored and two stolen bases in eight games this month. Hunter Stokes leads the team in the month of April with a .455 batting average, with Travis Swaggerty, who has homered four times this month, second at .385. The Jags have also posted a .984 fielding percentage in April, with four errors in eight games. Carter Perkins leads the team with a .429 batting average in the month of April.

HOMERS AS OF LATE
South Alabama has homered in seven of its last nine games, dating back to the series finale with Appalachian State on March 31, and has recorded multiple home runs in five of those contests including last week's win at Alabama State which saw Brendan Donovan (grand slam) and Paul Russo (2-run HR) go deep, as well as Travis Swaggerty's two-home run performance against Georgia Southern last Friday at Stanky Field. Carter Perkins homered twice in Wednesday's win at UNO.

JAGS SET SEASON HIGH IN HITS
South Alabama set a new season high in hits with 19 in last Sunday's series-finale win over Georgia Southern, surpassing the previous high of 18 which came in the season opener against Kansas State on Feb. 16. 

HARDY AMONG SBC LEADERS IN HITS, STOLEN BASES
Left fielder Dylan Hardy enters the week ranked third in the SBC in stolen bases (15), fourth in hits (47), fifth in runs scored (38) and sixth in batting average (.338).

SWAGGERTY IN TOP FIVE NATIONALLY IN TWO OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES
Center fielder Travis Swaggerty enters the week ranked second nationally in walks per game (1.11), and third in walks (39).

SWAGGERTY MOVING UP CAREER WALKS LIST
Travis Swaggerty drew two walks in Wednesday's win at New Orleans, giving him 130 for his career which passed former Jaguar Tyrone Dixon (1990-93) for fourth on the career walks list at USA. Mike Moredcai ranks third on the career list with 146 walks during his three-year career from 1987-89.

SWAGGERTY LEADS SBC
Center fielder Travis Swaggerty enters the weekend as the SBC leader in on-base percentage (.494), ranks second in walks (39), tied for fourth in home runs (9) and fifth in slugging percentage (.581).

DONOVAN TIED FOR SBC LEAD IN SACRIFICE FLIES
Third baseman Brendan Donovan enters the weekend tied for the Sun Belt Conference lead in sacrifice flies with five, which ranks 23rd nationally. 

DAVIS AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS IN RBIs, WALKS
First baseman Wells Davis ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference in walks (33) and RBIs (39), and tied for eighth in home runs (7). Davis ranks 12th nationally in walks, and is 15th in the country in walks per game (0.97) entering the weekend.

 JAGS AT NIGHT/DAY
South Alabama enters the week 13-7 in day games, and 9-6 in night games this season following Wednesday's win at New Orleans.

OFFENSIVE RUNS / HITS PER GAME
South Alabama is averaging seven runs scored and nine hits per game through 35 contests, but is also averaging over eight strikeouts per game against six walks per contest. The Jags have struck out 10 or more times in 15 games this season, but enter the series with seven consecutive games with fewer than 10 strikeouts offensively.

ALLOWING FIVE OR LESS
South Alabama is 17-2 this season when allowing five or fewer runs, but is 5-11 when allowing six or more; however, the Jags have allowed six or more runs in three of their five wins during their current five-game winning streak.

SCORING SIX OR MORE
The Jags are 19-4 when scoring six or more runs this year, but are 3-9 when scoring fewer than six runs.

SCORING FIRST
USA is 18-4 this season when scoring the game's first run, but is 4-9 when the opposition scores first.

FIRST-INNING RUNS
South Alabama is outscoring the opposition 50-12 in the first inning this season; however, it has allowed 40 runs in the second inning of games this year. USA scored seven runs in the top of the first inning in Wednesday's win at New Orleans.

MORE HITS, MORE WINS
The Jaguars are 17-2 when out-hitting the opposition this season, but are 5-9 when getting out-hit by opponents.

CALVI NAMED AlaBCA COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Mark Calvi was named the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year in 2017, marking the third consecutive year he has earned the honor, after leading the Jaguars to 40 wins and an NCAA Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional appearance. 

JAG OFFENSE IN 2017
USA broke the program record for walks (373) in a season last year, which ranked second nationally. The Jags ranked sixth in the country in runs scored (488) and on-base percentage (.415), seventh in runs per game (8.0), 11th in fielding percentage (.980), 14th in sacrifice flies (32) and home runs (78), and 15th in slugging percentage (.480).

JAGS SET PROGRAM SINGLE-SEASON FIELDING PERCENTAGE IN '17
South Alabama set a program record for single-season fielding percentage (.980) last year, which led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked 11th nationally.

2017 HOME RUN PRODUCTION
The Jaguars hit 78 home runs in 2017, the most since the 2008 squad hit 79 home runs; however, USA lost 26 percent of its home run production from last season following the departure of Eddie Paparella and Jared Barnes. Paparella homered seven times last year while Barnes, who was an eighth-round selection by the Miami Marlins in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, hit 13 as a junior.

JAGS PICKED TO WIN SBC EAST DIVISION
South Alabama was picked to win the 2018 Sun Belt Conference East Division by the league's head coaches after receiving all 12 first-place votes.

SWAGGERTY NAMED TO 2018 PRESEASON GOLDEN SPIKES WATCH LIST
Travis Swaggerty was named to the 2018 USA Baseball Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. Swaggerty was also a preseason first-team All-America selection by Baseball America, D1Baseball, College Sports Madness and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and was a third-team preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball.


Game Notes