Junior pitcher Hunter Lemke steps into big shoes this season as the team’s designated closer, replacing Jeff McVaney as the all-time Texas State career saves leader.

JC: Who is your celebrity crush?

HL: I’d have to say either Jennifer Aniston or Blake Lively.

JC: If you could pick any place in the world to vacation, where would it be and why?

HL: Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say some self-secluded island with a secret house. I’d just stay out there for a week or two.

JC: Who is your favorite athlete?

HL: Derek Jeter.

JC: What is your favorite sports team?

HL: The New York Yankees.

JC: How many siblings do you have, if any?

HL: I have three. I have two brothers and a sister, and they are all older than me.

JC: What song is playing on your iPod right now?

Former Texas State first baseman Paul Goldschmidt signed a five-year contract extension with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks with a club option for the 2019 season, according to the team’s press release.

The contract is worth $32 million. The team has the option for 14.5 million in 2018. Goldschmidt set franchise records for Arizona first basemen, including his 43 doubles last season.

In an interview with USA Today and ESPN, manager Kirk Gibson called Goldschmidt “the model Diamondback guy.”

“What’s not to like?” Gibson said. “I mean, everything he does from the time he gets to the park until the time he leaves every day. He’s very good at preparation, before, during the game, after, a great teammate, and works really hard. He has high aspirations to be a world champion. He wants to win a Gold Glove. And he would never change. It will never change until he stops playing.”

Junior infielder, Austin O'Neal hits the ball March 30 at Bobcat Baseball Field in the final match up with Seattle University.

The Rice Owls defeated Texas State baseball 4-3 Tuesday thanks to a walk-off hit in the twelfth inning, completing their comeback from a 3-2 deficit in the ninth.

Freshman reliever Andrew Boes was the sixth pitcher used and surrendered the last run of the game on a two-out single up the middle by second baseman Christian Stringer. Boes pitched the 11th inning as well and gave up three runs in addition to the one that ultimately won the game for Rice.

The Texas State softball team turned its tide in a big way over the weekend after freshman catcher Katie Doerre’s game-winning home run allowed the Bobcats to end a seven-game losing streak.

The Bobcats did not stop there, taking game three against Seattle University. This was the team’s first victory in a three-game series.

Texas State won on consecutive days against Seattle this past weekend for the first time since defeating Mississippi Valley State University Feb. 16-17.

“Now, it’s just a matter of fighting,” said Coach Ricci Woodard. “I feel like we did a better job of that in Seattle. We just kept fighting. We didn’t die and just roll over and let (Seattle) beat us.”

Texas State’s defense capitalized on offensive mistakes Saturday in football’s second and last scrimmage before hitting the field for the Maroon-Gold Spring Game Saturday April 6 at 6:00 p.m.

The Bobcat defense was led by redshirt senior safety Aaron Matthews and junior transfer linebacker Michael Orakpo. Each recorded an interception. Junior defensive tackle Herbert Gonzales recorded the third turnover with a fumble recovery late in the scrimmage. Even with successful turnovers, Coach Dennis Franchione believes there is room for improvement on the physical aspect of the game, saying the physicality was less than what he would have liked.

The Bobcats suffered a close loss to the University of Texas-Austin but are looking to get back to WAC conference action this weekend against Seattle University.

Seattle is 10-13 on the season and was victorious in its first WAC series on the road against Louisiana Tech University last weekend. The Redhawks dropped the opening game 5-2 before taking the next two games 12-8 and 7-4.

Texas State (9-15) had a similar outing last weekend while visiting New Mexico State University. After overcoming its Friday night loss, the team bounced back to take the next two games by a combined score of 22-10.

Seattle’s most notable series victory of 2013 came against Long Beach State University, winner of four College World Series. Seattle won two out of three in Long Beach, California.

Texas State will take the field for its second scrimmage on Saturday at 10:45 a.m., and unlike the first—which was scripted—this will be played in actual game conditions.

However, the mindset is still the same—maintain a heavy focus on the run with limited passing.

“We can do a lot of pass in shorts (and helmet practices),” said Coach Dennis Franchione. “We only have ‘X’ amount of scrimmages. So, we don’t do quite as much (passing). We’re always going to be a little more run-oriented in scrimmages as opposed to pass because we can do pass without tackling.”

Following their first scrimmage Franchione did just that. On Monday, the Bobcats worked on airing out the ball with no pads.

“It felt pretty good,” said freshman quarterback Jordan Moore. “Knowing that we’re a run first team, to come out passing the ball more gives the quarterbacks a chance to show off their arm.”

The softball team will look to avoid giving Coach Ricci Woodard her worst record in 13 years of coaching at Texas State when it travels to Seattle University this weekend.

The team currently sits with a 5-26 record of the 2013 campaign. The 26 losses for the Bobcats this season are tied for second highest under Woodard’s tenure at Texas State. The most losses she has had in a season were in 2005 when the team lost 27 but managed to finish second in the Southland. Woodard has never finished out of the top three in any conference standings while coaching for the Bobcats.

“We just have to keep getting better,” Woodard said. “If we would keep getting better, we’d be OK. It’s just we keep going in an up-and-down, up-and-down streak. We just haven’t gotten over the hump. We are still looking for that edge that is going to put us over the hump. This weekend would be a great time to do it.”

Bobcat track and field will try to better second and third place finishes from the Texas State Elite Meet this Thursday when the team hosts the Bobcat Invitational.

The women’s team earned the first WAC Championship title for Texas State in February but the team, especially the men’s side, is plenty motivated to bring more titles home.

“For the women, winning a championship, they got the taste of victory,” said Coach Dana Boone. “Once you taste it, you always want it. For the men to come up short, and see the women win, that’s their motivation. They want to come outdoors to see if they can get a taste of that victory as well.”

During last week’s Texas State Elite meet, the women’s team finished an overall second, with a 1-point differential behind the University of Texas-San Antonio, 138.50 points. The men’s team finished third with 96.50 points, behind the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Texas-Austin.   

Sophomore infielder, Garrett Mattlage, hits a foul ball during the University of Texas baseball game March 26 at Disch–Falk Field in Austin. Texas State was defeated 5-3 by the Longhorns.

Texas State baseball dropped its Tuesday contest with the University of Texas-Austin 5-3 after getting into an early hole and missing chances with runners on scoring position.

Freshman pitcher Jeremy Hallonquist started for the Bobcats (9-15) and pitched four and a third innings, giving up three runs on six hits. Senior Covey Morrow relieved Hallonquist. He pitched one inning and gave up one run on two hits.