San Marcos, Texas – Texas State has three wins in a row and five victories in its last six games headed down to San Antonio for the next installment of the I-35 Rivalry with UTSA. The Bobcats will take on the Roadrunners starting at 6 p.m. Friday with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
Texas State already has one victory over UTSA this season with a 6-0 win back on March 5. Ben McElroy hit a three-RBI double in the sixth inning to bust the game open and give Texas State a 5-0 lead. The Bobcats added a run in the eighth inning to push the score to 6-0 before it was over.
 
At that time, TXST was struggling in the non-conference season while UTSA jumped out to an outstanding start to the season. Since then, however, the roles have been reversed. The Bobcats caught fire and are just one game off the lead in the Western Athletic Conference while UTSA is on the bottom end of the middle of the pack, 3.5 games back.
 
Texas State is hitting .307 in conference as opposed to .268 on the season while UTSA is at .307 for the season but just .291 in conference. One of UTSA's top hitters on the season, Daniel Rockett, who did not play in the first meeting, is batting .350 for the year, but a mere .219 in WAC play.
 
Still, anything can happen when these two schools meet up so be sure to follow the games. Fans will be able to follow along with all of the action live on video at www.goutsa.com or through live audio at www.txstatebobcats.com/radio or 89.9 KTSW. As always, fans can also follow online through live stats here and frequent updates provided throughout the game on the baseball Twitter account - @TxStateBaseball.
 
Game Info
Texas State (21-23, 11-7 WAC) vs. UTSA (24-20, 8-9 WAC)

Site: Roadrunner Field – San Antonio, Texas
Date: Friday-Sunday, May 3-5
Time: Friday: 6 p.m. | Saturday: 2 p.m. | Sunday: 1 p.m.

Probable Pitching Matchups
#21 RHP Lucas Humpal (3-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. #19 RHP Brock Hartson (5-4, 3.78 ERA)
#32 RHP Taylor Black (3-5, 4.09 ERA) vs. #16 LHP Michael Kraft (3-5, 4.06 ERA)
#17 RHP Mitchell Pitts (2-3, 5.08 ERA) vs. #20 LHP Nolan Trabanino (3-3, 5.29 ERA)
 
Live Coverage
Video: www.utsa.com
Radio: www.txstatebobcats.com/radio and 89.9 KTSW
Live Stats: www.txstatebobcats.com/live_stats
Twitter: www.twitter.com/txstatebaseball
                          
Complete Game Notes
 
Bobcat Bits
Hot at Home
Texas State has worked to an 18-7 record at home this season while going 3-16 on the road. The disparity is even more pronounced lately as the Bobcats are 13-1 at Bobcat Ballpark in the last 14 home games. Below are some comparisons in statistics at home vs. away. The Bobcats will have to play like they're at home just miles down the road at UTSA this weekend.
Statistic                                   Home        Away       
Batting Average                            .276            .259 
Slugging Percentage                     .371            .340 
On Base Percentage                      .392            .343 
Fielding Percentage                       .968            .959 
Earned Run Average                      3.17            6.12
 
PLAYING POWERBALL
Texas State struggled to hit home runs early this season, but the Bobcat bats have come alive in the past 11 games. After hitting just four home runs in the first 33 games, Texas State has blasted six long balls since. Led by Austin O'Neal's first three home runs of his career, Texas State has shown an ability to hit for power. Morgan Mickan and Cody Lovejoy each knocked their first career home runs during the stretch while Andrew Stumph went yard for the first time of 2013 and the 14th time of his career. For the season, Texas State is slugging .356, but the Bobcats have put together a slugging percentage of .441 with six Bobcats slugging .512 or higher.
 
GOING STREAKING
Garrett Mattlage is the hottest streaker for the Bobcats with 20 consecutive games in which he's reached base. That is the longest streak on the team this season. Kevin Sah is behind him with a 13-game active streak. The longest current hitting streak belongs to Austin O'Neal at five consecutive games. Sah and Andrew Stumph own the longest hitting streaks of the year at eight.
 
CLOSING 'EM OUT
Texas State has found two reliable arms to close out games with left-handed Donnie Hart and right-handed Hunter Lemke, both sidearm throwers. Hart owns the lowest earned run average on the squad at 1.21 in 29.2 innings pitched, only giving up 19 hits while striking out 24 batters and walking just nine, holding opponents to a mere .181 batting average. Meanwhile, Lemke has eight saves (tied for second all-time in a season) and a 2.56 ERA in 31.2 innings pitched. He's struck out 32 batters and is holding opponents to a .228 batting average. The duo has combined for 59 appearances, and Head Coach Ty Harrington has taken to playing them back to back with Hart taking the first of the last two innings and Lemke shutting it down at the end. Hart has begun to see time as a middle reliever, though, instead of a setup man for the closer. 
 
AUSTIN BURST ONTO THE SCENE
Austin O'Neal was seeing limited time earlier this season, only starting when Texas State faced a left-handed pitcher. Against Louisiana Tech, however, he used the opportunity to burst onto the scene with a 3-for-4 day, adding a three-run homer to stake his claim on a Sunday start. That Sunday, he knocked his second home run en route to a 3-for-5, four-RBI day. Before that weekend, he was batting .229 with 11 hits and six RBI, but since, O'Neal is hitting a team high .429 with 15 hits, six extra-base hits and a team high 14 RBI. His feats earned him recognition as the Western Athletic Conference's Player of the Week for the week of April 15, his first such award of the season. He'll likely see plenty of action this weekend against two lefty starters from UTSA.
 
STUMPH IS BACK
Senior designated hitter Andrew Stumph made his return to the lineup for the Bobcats against Sacramento State, but he didn't show he was all the way back until the midweek game against Texas. He was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI against the Longhorns and followed that with an impressive weekend against Louisiana Tech. Last weekend, he hit his first home run of 2013. Since getting just one hit in 12 at bats against Sacramento State, Stumph has exploded to go 20-for-49 (.408) to lead the team, and knocked 14 RBI in the past 13 games. For the season, Stumph is averaging .325 (second on the team) with 37 hits and 24 RBI.
 
CLIMBING UP THE RECORD BOOKS
Speaking of Andrew Stumph, he is making his way up the Texas State record books this season. He is fourth all-time in games played (196) and fifth in at bats (710). He is fifth in RBI (131) and sits seventh in hits (205) and 9th in total bases (286).
 
Stumph isn't alone though as other Bobcats march into the record books. Morgan Mickan made his way in recently and now is 15th all-time with 27 stolen bases. Quickly charging behind him is Kevin Sah who is third all-time in steals in a season with 22 so far in 2013.
 
Mitchell Pitts, like Stumph, is all over the record books. He is seventh in appearances (63), eighth in innings pitched (218.4) and 13th in strikeouts (164) while Hunter Lemke is tied for fourth all-time in saves with eight, all eight of which came this season, putting him tied for the second most saves in a season with Stephen Smith, and just one save away from Jeff McVaney.