LEADING OFF: The Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball team travels to Arlington, Texas to open Sun Belt Conference play against UT Arlington at Clay Gould Ballpark. Friday's opener will begin at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday's game is set for 2:00 p.m. Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Arkansas State enters the series with a 7-5 record and most recently had to cancel two games against Austin Peay. The Mavericks enter the weekend with an 8-6 record and are coming off a 5-1 loss to No. 8 TCU. All three games can be heard on 95.3 FM The Ticket/970 AM KNEA and on the Red Wolves Digital Network with Matt Stolz on the call.

A-STATE/UT ARLINGTON HISTORY

• A-State trails UT Arlington 36-39 in the all-time series that began with a 12-2 victory by Arkansas State in the 1969 season. A-State also won the second game that season 2-0 and won the first six games against the Mavericks before UT Arlington won five in a row to get on the board.

• The two schools competed as Southland Conference foes until the 1987 season and competed nine more times as non-conference members with UT Arlington holding a 6-3 advantage in those games, including a 5-4 win over A-State in Tommy Raffo's second game as head coach.

• Red Wolves head coach Tommy Raffo is 3-5 against the Mavericks with six of the meetings coming the last two years as SBC foes after UTA joined the league and one matchup in the conference tournament in 2014 (an 8-7 Mavericks' win). Last season's series was supposed to be played in Jonesboro, but was moved to Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss., due to snow in Northeast Arkansas. UTA was able to take two-of-three from the Red Wolves at the neutral site to begin league play a season ago.

A-STATE WINS HOME-OPENING SERIES VS. MILWAUKEE

• Arkansas State hosted Milwaukee in its 2016 home-opening series and took three-of-four games from the Panthers to improve to 9-2 all-time against them.

• A-State won the opener 13-3 and swept a doubleheader Saturday 7-4 and 8-1 before losing Sunday's finale by a count of 9-2.

• A-State used a season-high 16 hits to win Friday's contest and give Tyler Zuber his first victory of the season. The 16 hits were the most by the team since registering 19 at Texas State on May 9 of last season. The 13 runs were the second most by the team this year (14 at UAB Feb. 19).

• The Red Wolves' Peyton Culbertson earned the first win of his career in the 7-4 victory Saturday over Milwaukee after tossing two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Ty White hit his first career home run in the game with the score at 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth to give the Red Wolves some insurance runs. Adam Grantham got the win in game two Saturday before A-State was outhit by Milwaukee 12-4 in Sunday's series finale.

• A-State improved to 25-1 over its last 26 home openers with the 13-3 win Friday night. A-State has also won four straight home-opening series. The team split a four-game, home-opening set with Evansville in 2012. The Red Wolves lost two of three to the Purple Aces in 2011 for the last time an A-State squad lost its home-opening series.

• Head coach Tommy Raffo improved to 7-1 in home openers with Friday's win. He has also won each home-opening series in his career except for the 2011 series versus Evansville.

RED WOLVES IN MIDWEEK HOME OPENERS

• A-State is 4-3 in its first home midweek contest of the year under head coach Tommy Raffo, but has lost two in a row (2-0 to UAM in 2014 and Missouri State 6-3 last season).

• The team's last win in a midweek home opener was against UT Martin in 2013 9-0. Raffo also has wins over Murray State (twice) and SIU-Edwardsville in midweek home openers.

• Arkansas State is 8-3 in its first home midweek game of the season since the 2005 season.

GRANTHAM WITH A GRAND OUTING

• Senior Adam Grantham turned in one of the best starts of his career Saturday against

Milwaukee in the second game of a doubleheader. He tied a career high with six innings pitched and struck out five while walking two as the Kennett, Mo., native held the Panthers to one run (earned) on four hits to earn the win in A-State's 8-1 triumph.

• The win was Grantham's second of his career and first since his freshman season in 2013 when he picked up the win in the first start of his career against Bradley. He was on a strict 75-pitch count and was pulled after four innings, but NCAA rules dictate that a win can be given to a pitcher that is on a pitch count as long as it is announced before the game. He walked three and struck out five in the outing and gave up no runs with two hits allowed.

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR

• Arkansas State has held the lead in 10 of its 12 games so far this season, with leads in two of its last four losses in the eighth inning or later. A-State led Ole Miss 3-2 in the eighth inning only to lose 4-3 before holding a 1-0 lead in the ninth against Morehead State in the 2-1 walk-off loss. The team also jumped ahead of Omaha 2-0 in the bottom of the first before falling in 11 innings.

• The only games the Red Wolves haven't led in were the 5-0 loss to UAB in the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 20 and the March 6 loss to Milwaukee. However, the game was 2-1 heading into the seventh inning when the Panthers scored three runs each in the seventh and eighth innings.

• A-State has already been involved in three walk-off games this season, all three coming in a row against Ole Miss, Morehead State, and Saint Louis. The first two were losses, but the Red Wolves defeated SLU 5-4 when Ty White delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to plate to score pinch-runner Garrett Huff. It was the team's first walk-off win since May 15, 2015 when Stuart Levy hit a sacrifice fly to defeat UALR 4-3 in 14 innings. It was the team's first walk-off hit since Matt Burgess hit a single to beat UALR on March 15, 2014 in the second game of a doubleheader, which also wound up being a 4-3 win for the Red Wolves in 14 innings.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

• Arkansas State was hit with 10 more pitches over the weekend against Milwaukee and is now all alone in first place in the country with 32 for the season. UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara are next with 29 and 28 HBPs, respectively.

• 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.

• Matt Burgess and Jake Bakamus lead the team with six each, which is tied for most in the SBC and sixth in the nation. Austin Baker, Jeremy Brown, and Joe Schrimpf have been hit four times apiece, good for fourth in the league and 42nd in the country. 10 different players for the Red Wolves this season have been hit by a pitch.

TOUCH 'EM ALL JOE (BUT HURRY)

• A-State junior infielder/catcher Joe Schrimpf hit his first home run of the season in the first game against Saint Louis Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't your normal home run as it was an inside-the-park home run. He smoked a ball to deep center field that hit off of the wall and ricocheted back towards the infield. By the time the centerfielder was able to get the ball to the cut-off man, Schrimpf was already racing towards the plate. He was able to slide in safely ahead of the throw that wound up being too high for the catcher to corral.

• The inside-the-parker for Schrimpf was the first of his career and the first for the Red Wolves since Austin Baker hit one at Tomlinson Stadium against Memphis on March 25, 2014.

• The round-tripper was the team's third home run of the season after Tanner Ring and Jeremy Brown both left the yard in the first game of the year at UAB. Since then, Ring and Ty White have homered at home to give the team five.

RED WOLVES REWRITE HISTORY WITH SERIES WIN VS UAB

• Arkansas State won two out of three games against UAB to begin the 2016 season and it marks the first time in school history that the Red Wolves have won a three-game set to begin a season in school history.

• The 14-5 win in the opener against the Blazers was the first time A-State has won a season- opener on the road since the 1997 season when A-State defeated Northeast Louisiana, now ULM, by a score of 8-6.

• The opening win on Friday also secured head coach Tommy Raffo his first victory in a road season opener in three tries.

RING NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SBC

• A-State senior infielder/pitcher Tanner Ring was named to the 2016 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team as the squad's third baseman.

• The Batesville, Ark., native posted a .275 batting average with a .368 on-base percentage in 2015 after playing in 50 total games, drawing the majority of his starts at third base (25). He registered a slugging percentage of .401 and was third on the team with four home runs. He also hit 11 doubles and tied for third on the team with seven steals.

• Senior first baseman Matt Burgess and senior outfielder Austin Baker were named to the

College Sports Madness Preseason All-SBC team with Burgess earning first-team honors and Baker picking up second-team honors. Burgess, a native of Greenbrier, Ark., hit .257 with a .322 on-base percentage in 2015 and also hit 20 doubles, which was the second most on the team and tied for second most in the conference. Baker, a native of Montesano, Wash., was one of only two players to start all 57 games. He hit .290 with a team-best seven home runs. He scored the most runs on the team (42) and was third in doubles (14) and RBIs (36).

• The Sun Belt Conference coaches selected the Red Wolves to finish eighth in the league with 50 points, seven points behind UT Arlington and 15 points ahead of Little Rock.

RED WOLVES TIE RECORD WITH FOUR MLB DRAFT PICKS

• A-State had four draft picks in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft with David Owen going in the 19th round to the San Francisco Giants, Stuart Levy to the Baltimore Orioles in the 27th round, Chandler Hawkins in the 33rd round to the St. Louis Cardinals, and Zach George in the 35th round to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• That number ties the amount selected in the 1995 MLB draft when Keith Horn, Chad Soden, Jon David French, and Toby Anglen were all chosen. The Cleveland Indians selected Horn in the 18th round, while the Seattle Mariners picked Soden in the 23rd round. French was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 35th round, while the Atlanta Braves selected Anglen in the 45th round to close out the A-State picks.

LOST PRODUCTION

• The Red Wolves said goodbye to eight seniors plus junior David Owen after the 2015 season. • Zach George had one of the best seasons in A-State baseball history with a .399 batting average, and .548 on-base percentage, which was the best mark in the country in 2015 and set a new school record. He was named to the ABCA and Louisville Slugger All-American squads as a third-team selection.

• Other position players lost were Stuart Levy, Lucas Feddersen, Collin Massanelli, and Ty Michelotti. Levy played in all but two games a season ago and will be missed behind the plate. Feddersen was the team's second-leading hitter with a .314 average, while Massanelli hit .275 with a .410 on-base percentage in 39 games.

• Owen will be missed as he started 15 games last season and pitched to a 3.25 ERA and 3-5 record with a team-high 73 strikeouts. Chandler Hawkins tossed 64.2 innings a year ago and tallied a 4.87 ERA and had the second-most wins on the team with five. Colton Kibler appeared in 29 games to lead the team in 2015 and pitched to a 4.06 ERA in 57.2 innings. He was also the team's leader in saves with five. The other senior pitcher was Jon Glidewell, who battled back from numerous injuries to pitch in 2015. He made 11 starts and went 2-1 with the lowest batting average against on the team at .204.

SAVE YOUR RAIN (AND SNOW) DANCES

• A-State has already had four games altered due to potential rain chances causing UAB and the Red Wolves to play a doubleheader last Saturday and move the game with Ole Miss to Wed. The two-game midweek series against Austin Peay was canceled due to rain March 8-9. The teams played into the top of the fifth inning Tuesday night with A-State ahead 6-2, but the Red Wolves couldn't get the two more outs required to make it an official game before rain hit.

• The Red Wolves had 26 games altered to weather a season ago with a healthy mix of both rain and snow as the culprits. The Red Wolves optioned to go to the Perfect Game Complex in Emerson, Ga., to play No. 7 Louisville instead of to Northwestern State where rain was likely on Feb. 20-21. The Red Wolves would go on to take two-of-three from the Cardinals.

• The second big alteration to the schedule was when Arkansas State shifted its home-opening Sun Belt Conference series versus UT Arlington to Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss., due to winter weather preventing the team from playing in Jonesboro.

• All in all, the Red Wolves ended up playing seven doubleheaders, with the only one that was originally scheduled versus Illinois State on opening weekend. A-State played six consecutive doubleheaders on weekends to open the season.

ROAD WARRIORS

• Arkansas State began the 2016 season how they finished 2015 with solid play on the road. The Red Wolves took two-of-three from UAB before a close 4-3 loss to No. 21 Ole Miss Wednesday, Feb. 24.

• The Red Wolves finished the 2015 regular season with a 14-13 road record after sweeping Texas State May 8-10. A-State was 6-0 in the state of Texas this season with three wins each over Houston Baptist and Texas State.

• The winning road record marked the first time in the Tommy Raffo era that A-State has had a winning road record. Additionally, it is the first time the program has had a winning mark on the road since the 1998 season when Arkansas State was 14-8 in road contests.

• A-State played four neutral site games in Emerson, Ga., last weekend and is not scheduled to play in any more until the conference tournament. A-State went 5-5 a season ago in neutral site matchups, but wasn't supposed to play in any other than the conference tournament.

208 AND COUNTING FOR RAFFO

• A-State head coach Tommy Raffo got to 208 career victories this past weekend with three wins over Milwaukee.

• The 200th win tied Raffo with Richard Johnson for third-most wins all time in A-State baseball history, while the 201st pushed him into third place for most wins by himself.

• Coach Raffo only trails Bill Bethea and J.A. Ike Tomlinson on the A-State baseball career wins list.