A-STATE/TEXAS STATE SERIES HISTORY

• A-State and Texas State have played nine times in previous years with eight of the nine coming since 2009 and the last six as members of the Sun Belt Conference in 2014 and 2015. The first meeting was during the 2000 season when A-State dropped an 11-8 decision to the Bobcats, known as Southwest Texas State then, in San Marcos.

• Head coach Tommy Raffo is 6-2 against Texas State all-time with his first game as A-State's head coach coming against the Bobcats in 2009. The Red Wolves won the game 4-3 in 10 innings at the UT Arlington Invitational when Josh DeMoney singled home Cody Pace for the walk-off win. However, the Bobcats were able to earn a win just two days later by a score of 3-2. Since then, A-State took two-of-three in Jonesboro during the 2014 season when Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats won game one 4-3 in 12 innings before the Red Wolves bounced back with 5-4 and 4-1 victories. Last season, A-State swept Texas State in San Marcos by scores of 8-5, 12-10, and 11-10. Tyler Zuber picked up the win in Friday's game with five shutout innings out of the bullpen, while Joe Schrimpf drove in five runs to lead the offense. Arkansas State rallied from a 10-4 deficit and used a six-run sixth inning to win game two. Cody Jackson earned the win out of the bullpen, while Colton Kibler picked up a save. Jeremy Brown led the offense with three RBIs. The Red Wolves took a 6-0 lead in game three only to see the Bobcats come back to tie the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Brown came through again with a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth to give A-State the lead and Zuber earned the win again after he got the game's final five outs for his second victory in the series.

• Texas State is currently 26-23 and is 13-11 in league play, placing them fourth in the SBC standings. The Bobcats took the first game of its series with Georgia State by scores of 6-2 and 10-1, but lost the series finale 10-9 in 11 innings.

NOTES FROM MEMPHIS MIDWEEK GAME

• Arkansas State defeated Memphis 4-3 May 10 at Tomlinson Stadium in the second game of the two teams' annual home-and-home series. A-State defeated the Tigers in Memphis 11-5 March 29 to sweep the season series for the first time since 2014. A-State also defeated Memphis in the lone 2011 meeting, but have split the two meetings four times under current head coach Tommy Raffo. The only year that the Tigers have swept the Red Wolves during the Raffo era was last season. A-State is now 57-90-1 against Memphis all-time.

• Redshirt freshman Zachary Patterson got his first career start in the game against Memphis and pitched well. The Cabot, Ark., native tossed four innings and only gave up one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The four innings pitched are a new career high after he lasted 2.2 innings in the second game of a doubleheader against App State April 29. The four strikeouts were also a new career high, besting his previous mark of three, set three times.

• Senior Adam Grantham tossed the final five innings of the game to earn the win to improve to 2-3 on the year. The Kennett, Mo., native gave up two unearned runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

• Matt Burgess was the star at the plate with three hits, including two doubles, and a RBI. The two doubles give him 10 for the season and make him only the second player on the team to get to double digits in doubles with Tanner Ring being the team leader with 13. Jeremy Brown was the only other player with a multi-hit game with two.

• The Red Wolves had three sacrifice bunts in the same inning during the game with Memphis. After Jeremy Brown led off the bottom of the second inning, Austin Baker moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Jake Bakamus singled to shallow left to put runners on the corners for Daltan Lovell. Lovell then executed a safety squeeze bunt to score Brown and reached when the first baseman made an errant throw, which also allowed Bakamus to advance to third. The next batter, Tim Seldomridge, also performed a safety squeeze for the third sacrifice of the frame.

NOTES FROM NORTHWESTERN STATE SERIES

• The Red Wolves fell to 3-7 all-time against Northwestern State by losing two-of-three to the Demons May 6-8. A-State is now 1-2 against Northwestern State under head coach Tommy Raffo after the three meetings were the first time the two schools have played against each other since he became head coach.

• A-State's J.D. Rainwater registered the first extra-base hit of his career in the May 6 game against the Demons. He pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning and roped a double into the left-center gap. It was one of the Red Wolves' two hits on the night with the other being an infield single by Tony Ortiz.

• The Red Wolves stole three bases in the May 6 game, all in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, marking just the fourth time this season the team has stole three or more bases in a game. A-State stole three bases against Milwaukee March 5 in game two of a doubleheader and against Arkansas-Pine Bluff April 26, while the season high is four, set against Memphis on March 29.

• Arkansas State was a perfect 6-6 stealing bases against the Demons and is now 43-49 on the year for an .878 success percentage, which, as of now, is the highest by a Red Wolves' team in the last 15 years. Ty White stole two bases to take the team lead at 10 and is 10-12 on the year, while Garrett Rucker stole one base and is second on the team with 9-10. Jake Bakamus swiped one bag and is 7-7 on the year, while Tim Seldomridge stole two bases and is 6-6 on the season.

• Matt Burgess had the series' only home run with a two-run shot in the Saturday game between the two schools. It was the fifth of the season for the Greenbrier, Ark., native and 12th of his career, which is tied with Tanner Ring for second most among active players on the team.

• Freshman right-hander Peyton Culbertson earned the win in Sunday's 4-1 victory for the Red Wolves. He is now 4-0 and sports a 3.41 ERA on the year. He limited the Demons to just one run on one hit with five walks and three strikeouts in six innings. It was his third straight quality start and he is tied with Tyler Zuber for second most on the team this year. The weekend start was only his second weekend start of the season, with the other being against Omaha Feb. 28.

• Bryan Ayers closed out the game with three shutout innings Sunday for his first career save. He allowed three hits and only walked one batter while striking out none. It was just his second appearance out of the bullpen this season as he's made 10 starts on the year.

• The Red Wolves allowed 13 extra-base hits to the Demons across the three-game series with all 13 of them being doubles. Northwestern State had seven doubles in game one. Meanwhile, A-State only had three extra-base hits all weekend (two doubles and a homer).

DOWN TO THE WIRE

• Arkansas State, Georgia State, and ULM are all 9-15 in the SBC this season with Appalachian State at 9-18 in league play as they are one of two teams yet to have their “bye” weekend from conference play.

• The Sun Belt Conference takes the top eight teams to the conference tournament, which is set for May 25-29 in San Marcos, Texas. The Red Wolves, Panthers, and Warhawks are all tied for eighth place.

• The Red Wolves have three games remaining each vs. Texas State and at Little Rock. ULM closes with three-game series vs. Little Rock and at Louisiana-Lafayette, while Georgia State has Troy at home and Georgia Southern on the road.

• The Red Wolves have qualified for the SBC Tournament six straight years and are the only team in the conference to win at least two games in the competition in six straight seasons. A-State snuck in as the eighth-seeded team a season ago.

LET'S TURN TWO

• A-State is now 17th in the nation in double plays turned with 47 and also ranks as the top team in the Sun Belt Conference in the category. The Red Wolves turned one double play against Memphis, a 6-3 twin killing, Tuesday night. A-State turned three against Northwestern State May 6-8 with the first being a new one with an 8-3 double play on a fly out in Friday's game along with a 4-6-3 twin killing and the team's first 5-3 double play on the year in Sunday's game. Georgia Tech leads the nation with 64.

• The team's season-high for double plays is four against Saint Louis Feb. 27 in the second game of a doubleheader. The team has turned 11 6-4-3 double plays for the team lead, with nine 4-6-3 twin-killings in second. The Red Wolves turned their first 8-3 double play May 6 when Garrett Rucker made a diving catch and doubled the runner off of first base. Jake Bakamus turned the team's only 5-3 double play of the year when he got Peyton Culbertson out of a bases-loaded jam May 8. Bakamus reached back and tagged the runner going from second to third and fired a strike to first base to complete the twin killing. Tony Ortiz recorded A-State's only unassisted double play of the season at South Alabama April 8 when he snagged a line shot at first base and doubled the runner off. A-State's weirdest double play of the year is a 7-5-4 one that was turned after Garrett Rucker dove and appeared to catch a ball in left field for a split second. Rucker was able to pick it up and throw to third for a force out and then the ball was throw to second for another force out.

• Arkansas State turned 34 double plays a year ago and surpassed that total only 34 games into the regular season. The school record for double plays is 59 in both 1998 and 1994.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

• Arkansas State was hit with five pitches over the past weekend's series against Northwestern State to bring the team's total to 79 on the year, which ranks as a tie for fifth in the nation with Western Carolina and is tops in the Sun Belt Conference. A-State wasn't hit by a pitch versus Memphis May 10.

• Jackson State leads the country with 99, while SWAC conference mates Alabama State (93) and Southern (83) are second and third, respectively. North Carolina Central is fourth with 80.

• The Red Wolves have a good start on chasing last year's team in the category after the 2015 squad was hit by a pitch 94 times, good for fifth in the country. Zach George led the team a season ago with 16 HBPs.

• Jake Bakamus leads the team with 15 hit-by-pitches, which is first in the SBC and 16th in the country. Jeremy Brown is second on the team with 10 after being hit once this weekend. He ranks as seventh in the conference. Garrett Rucker is third on the team with nine. 14 different players have been hit by a pitch for the team.

SCHRIMPF EARNS SBC WEEKLY AWARD

• A-State junior infielder/catcher Joe Schrimpf picked up A-State's first weekly award of the season Monday, April 25 after his performance during that week. It is the team's first weekly award since Schrimpf earned the honor on May 12 of last season.

• The St. Louis, Mo., native went 8-for-17 over the four A-State wins April 19-24 with two hits in each contest. He hit his fifth home run of the season Saturday, second most on the team, and hit a double and a triple in Sunday's game with the triple setting up the winning run in the 5-4 walk-off win over ULM. Schrimpf led A-State with a .550 on-base percentage and a .824 slugging percentage during the week and drove in five runs.

• For the season, he is hitting .305 and is the team's leader in RBIs (39), on-base percentage (.435), walks (33), and sacrifice bunts (9).