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SAN MARCOS – Texas State will host South Alabama, an NCAA Tournament team a season ago, for this weekend's series. It will mark the first three meetings between the teams.
 
Game Info: Texas State (17-11, 6-3 SBC) vs. South Alabama (13-15, 3-5 SBC)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Friday-Sunday, April 4-6
Time: Friday – 6:30 p.m. | Saturday – 3 p.m. | Sunday – 1 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #32 RHP Taylor Black (2-3, 3.00) vs. #32 LHP Locke St. John (3-1, 2.58)
Saturday: #31 RHP Austen Williams (3-1, 3.32) vs. #30 RHP Kevin Hill (2-3, 4.38)
Sunday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (2-1, 3.50) vs. #25 RHP Hunter Soleymani (0-1, 2.25)
 
The Series                                                                                                  
Texas State and South Alabama have yet to meet in their histories. The Bobcats, however, are the hotter team coming into the game after a walk-off victory against I-35 rival UTSA. South Alabama has lost five in a row.
 
On the Jaguars
South Alabama is led by Adam Ballew at the plate. He is the only Jaguar batting above .300 at .301. He owns a team-high 31 hits with three for extra bases. The leading RBI-hitter is Hayden Jones with 12 on the season and a team-high seven doubles. The group as a whole has hit three home runs on the year.
 
Pitchers Locke St. John and Kevin Hill have been consistent starters for South Alabama this season, combining for a 5-4 record. Hunter Soleymani, the Sunday starter, will be making just his second start of the season. But in 16 innings pitched this season, he has built a 2.25 ERA and tallied 18 strikeouts to just seven walks.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State continues to pitch well. Austen Williams led the squad last weekend with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Taylor Black improved his ERA to 3.00 with 7.1 innings pitched last Saturday without an earned run.
 
The Bobcats are still looking for more from their bats, but did tally 11 hits in their last game. Texas State is starting to receive contributions from names that haven't had many opportunities this season. Against UTSA, Austin O'Neal was 3-for-4 while Ben McElroy has been heating up lately. At Arkansas State, McElroy was 4-for-11 for a .364 average on the weekend.
 
In fact, McElroy leads the team in batting average since their final game at Western Kentucky with a .350 average. In the last four games, he's hitting .357. Meanwhile, Matt Smith continues to stay consistent in the leadoff spot with a team-high .333 batting average.
 
A Look Ahead
After this weekend's series, Texas State will return to the road for a midweek game at Houston followed by a Sun Belt Conference series at UL Monroe. The Bobcats will stay on the road for a midweek game at UTSA before returning home to host Georgia State over Easter weekend.