San Marcos, Texas – Texas State travels to Arlington this weekend for a pivotal series against the Mavericks of UT Arlington. Both teams are tied for second place in the Western Athletic Conference and are just one game back from conference leader CSU Bakersfield. The Bobcats have two wins over the WAC leader while UTA went 1-2 against the Roadrunners.
 
This weekend's series will determine sole possession of second place and possibly an ascent to first place in the conference. Texas State will pitch the same rotation as last week with Lucas Humpal starting Friday night, Taylor Black taking the mound Saturday and Mitchell Pitts finishing the series Sunday. The Mavericks will pitch junior righty Brad Vachon (6-3, 2.83 ERA) Friday and sophomore righty Zach Thompson (5-4, 5.79 ERA) Saturday. Sunday's pitcher will be announced.
 
Texas State has the hot hand going into the series, winning three games in a row and six of its last seven while UTA has lost two straight. The Bobcats won the most recent meeting between the two teams and Head Coach Ty Harrington has a 31-13 record against the Mavericks. Texas State owns the all-time record at 50-36.
 
Fans will be able to follow along with all of the action live on video or audio at www.utamavs.com. 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 (24-24, 13-8 WAC) at UT Arlington (25-23, 13-8 WAC)

Site: Clay Gould Ballpark – Arlington, Texas
Date: Friday-Sunday, May 10-12
Time: Friday – 6:30 p.m. | Saturday – 2 p.m. | Sunday – 1 p.m.

Probable Pitching Matchups
#21 RHP Lucas Humpal (3-2, 3.02 ERA) vs. #21 RHP Brad Vachon (6-3, 2.82 ERA)
#32 RHP Taylor Black (3-5, 4.08 ERA) vs. #32 RHP Zach Thompson (5-4, 5.79 ERA)
#17 RHP Mitchell Pitts (3-3, 4.98 ERA) vs. To Be Announced
 
Live Coverage
Video: www.utamavs.com  
Radio: www.utamavs.com  
Live Stats: www.txstatebobcats.com/live_stats
Twitter: www.twitter.com/txstatebaseball
                          
Complete Game Notes
 
Bobcat Bits
Jockeying for Position
Texas State and UT Arlington are poised for a pivotal series this weekend as the teams are tied for second place in the Western Athletic Conference on the second to last weekend of regular season action. The Bobcats already have an advantage, taking two of three from conference leader CSU Bakersfield while UT Arlington dropped two of three to the Roadrunners in Arlington. The winner of this weekend's series will likely own sole possession of second place in the conference and help set themselves up for a better seeding in the WAC Tournament to be played May 22-26.
 
Brotherly Love
Shaun Garcia and Tyler Sibley are former Texas State Bobcats on the baseball staff this season. The two will get an opportunity to see their brothers this weekend as Daniel Garcia and Travis Sibley play for UT Arlington. Daniel is a junior catcher, and Travis plays the infield like his older brother. Travis is batting .298 as a sophomore and has started 43 of 45 games played for the Mavericks. He has 42 hits iwth 13 RBI and 22 runs scored. Daniel has started 12 games and played in 23 with eight his, eight RBI and four runs.
 
Hot at Home
Texas State has worked to a 19-7 record at home this season while going 5-17 on the road. The disparity is even more pronounced lately as the Bobcats are 14-1 at Bobcat Ballpark in the last 15 home games. Below are some comparisons in statistics at home vs. away. The Bobcats will have to be their best on the road against UT Arlington.
Statistic                                   Home        Away       
Batting Average                            .281            .273 
Slugging Percentage                     .379            .354 
On Base Percentage                      .398            .355 
Fielding Percentage                       .965            .959 
Earned Run Average                      3.13            5.78
 
PLAYING POWERBALL
Texas State struggled to hit home runs early this season, but the Bobcat bats have come alive in the past 15 games. After hitting just four home runs in the first 33 games, Texas State has blasted nine long balls since. Led by Austin O'Neal and Morgan Mickan, both hitting the first three home runs of their career, Texas State has shown an ability to hit for power. Cody Lovejoy knocked his first career home run during the stretch while Andrew Stumph went yard for the first time of 2013 and the 14th time of his career. Mickan added his second home run this past weekend at UTSA and his third Wednesday night while Nick Smelser jumped in the home run derby with the second of his career and first of the season against the Roadrunners. For the season, Texas State is slugging .367, but since the homers have started coming, the Bobcats have put together a slugging percentage of .449 with eight Bobcats slugging .444 or higher.
 
GOING STREAKING
Garrett Mattlage is the hottest streaker for the Bobcats with 24 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 17-game active streak and Nick Smelser has reached base in 13 consecutive games. The longest current hitting streak belongs to Austin O'Neal at eight consecutive games, tying him with Sah and Andrew Stumph for the longest hitting streaks of the year.
 
CLOSING 'EM OUT
Texas State has found two reliable arms to close out games with right-handed Hunter Lemke and left-handed Donnie Hart, both sidearm throwers. Lemke was untouchable in an extra-inning game against UTSA. He retired 10 consecutive batters, seven by strikeout, to propel Texas State to victory, picking up his first win of the season. He owns a 2.21 earned run average and has been a part of three shutouts. He has eight saves, tying him for second most all-time in a season, with 41 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA in 36.2 innings. Hart owns a 2.56 ERA in 31.2 innings with 27 strikeouts. The duo has combined for 64 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 closing it out.
 
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 .422 with 19 hits, seven for extra bases, and a team high 18 RBI. He's also  gone on an eight-game hitting streak. 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.
 
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. He hit his first home run of 2013 against WAC leader CSU Bakersfield. Since getting just one hit in 12 at bats against Sacramento State, Stumph has exploded to go 25-for-63 (.397), and knocked 16 RBI in the past 17 games. For the season, Stumph is averaging .328 (second on the team) with 42 hits and 26 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 (200) and fourth in at bats (724). He is fifth in RBI (133) and sits tied for sixth in hits (210) and eighth in doubles (34). He is ninth in total bases (292).
 
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 tied for sixth in appearances (64) and is seventh in innings pitched (225.1) 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.