Published: April 22, 2009 10:08 am      

College Baseball: The shape of things to come?

Bobcats meet Baylor in what some think could be a regional preview

Tonight’s matchup with the Texas State baseball team traveling to Baylor could be a sign of things to come.

Some NCAA baseball forecasters are predicting Baylor to host a regional round of the NCAA playoffs, and some forecasters have the first-place Bobcats playing in the Waco regional; that is if the Bobcats win the Southland Conference Tournament.

“That’s something we don’t even think about at this point of the season,” Texas State head coach Ty Harrington said. “We just want to keep on concentrating on the present and what happens in the future will take care of itself.”

Presently, the Bobcats are playing very good baseball. The team is riding an eight-game streak after taking two SLC games from Northwestern State and will actually enter tonight’s game with a better overall record (27-10) than Baylor (25-13). Texas State also won the last meeting, handing the Bears a 5-3 loss in Waco on March 31. The Bobcats dropped the first meeting against Baylor, suffering a 22-17 loss at home on March 18.

That considered, the Bears are actually 3-2 against Southland Conference teams, also suffering a loss to UT-Arlington this season.

As for the Bobcats, the team is swinging the bat extremely well, as State combined 30 runs and 37 hits in a Sunday doubleheader at NSU.

The first game was a seven-inning run-rule win with Bobcats erupting for nine runs in the top of the second, while an eight-run inning late in the second game spurred Texas State’s win.

“This team, from top to bottom, is swinging the bat better than any team I’ve had since I have been here,” Harrington said. “It’s really remarkable, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.”

The Bobcats lead the league with a .336 batting average as a team and have 11 hitters that are hitting higher than. 300 and two that are above the .400 mark. Senior outfielder Spenser Dennis leads the team with his .470 average, which ranks fourth in the nation. Bret Atwood is hitting .415 , while Keith Prestridge is creeping up close to the ,400 mark with a .396 average.

Prestridge was on a tear last weekend, hitting three home runs against the Demons, two of which plated three runs each.

“Prestridge seemed to be really locked in last weekend,” Harrington said. “Even better, he came through at times when we needed him to help us get both games under control.”

Junior Paul Goldschmidt continues to swing a hot bat as well, as he connected for two home runs on Sunday and now has 13 on the season. He leads the team with 65 RBIs and 14 doubles and is hitting at a .370 clip.

Baylor entered a weekend series at Oklahoma State ranked No. 7 in the Baseball America poll, but fell to No. 9 this weekend after splitting a pair of games with Oklahoma State. BU won the first game, 8-5 before suffering a 4-3 loss. The third game of the series was rained out.

Baylor has been ranked in the top 10 for 10 consecutive weeks, the longest such streak in the program’s history. The Bears are ranked No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.

Garrett Caruth (3-1, 4.50 ERA) will start for the Bobcats, while Baylor has not announced a starting pitcher for the game.