Baseball | 3/12/2015 8:56:00 PM

SAN MARCOS – Texas State will look to keep rolling in the Sun Belt Conference after a 2-1 start when the Bobcats travel to Appalachian State this weekend for games at 5 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday Central Standard Time.
 
Series Info: Texas State (5-10-1, 2-1 SBC) at Appalachian State (5-11, 0-3 SBC)
Site: Smith Stadium – Boone, N.C.
Date: Friday - Sunday, March 13-15
Time: Friday - 5 p.m. | Saturday – 1 p.m. | Sunday – 12 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (2-1, 5.13 ERA) vs. TBA
Saturday: #36 RHP Scott Grist (1-1, 2.08 ERA) vs. #19 LHP Jeffrey Springs (0-1, 3.80 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. #11 RHP Travis Holden (0-1, 3.06 ERA)
 
The Series                                                                                                  
Texas State and Appalachian State are meeting for the first time ever as brand new conference foes in App State's first season as part of the Sun Belt Conference. In fact, Texas State will be the first team from Texas that the Mountaineers have ever faced in the baseball program's 112-year baseball history.
 
On the Mountaineers
Appalachian State has struggled early on this season, bringing a 5-11 overall record and an 0-3 conference record into the series. The Mountaineers are playing their first home games of the season against the Bobcats this weekend.
 
Coming into the weekend, App State has lost six consecutive games, starting with one to NC State followed by a three-game series on the road at Georgia Southern and two midweeks at Georgia.
 
The team's top hitter is Brandon Burris at .396 and is currently on a 10-game hitting streak. However, he missed Wednesday's game due to injury. Michael Pierson is behind him at .333 tied for the team lead with 19 hits but owns the team lead in runs scored with 10. The top RBI-hitter is Dillon Dobson with 10 on the season, but Appalachian State has four Mountaineers with eight or more RBI.
 
Texas State will have to face a pitching staff that has a 4.14 ERA. The squad has given up 129 hits and 63 earned runs, along with 12 more unearned runs. On the year, App State has 122 strikeouts.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State started the conference season well with a 2-1 series victory over UL Monroe in San Marcos. To keep it going, the Bobcats will have to bounce back off a 14-5 midweek loss to No. 10 Rice.
 
The only Bobcat hitting over .300 is freshman Jaylen Hubbard in 16 at bats. The leading hitter is Cody Lovejoy at .298 followed by David Paiz at .281 with a team-leading 11 RBI.
 
On the mound, however, the Bobcats are rounding into form. Scott Grist boasts a 2.08 ERA and has at least five strikeouts in two of his four outings. Meanwhile, Lucas Humpal struck out 10 batters in his last outing, more than doubling his season total and tying the season's best mark in the Sun Belt Conference for strikeouts in an outing by a pitcher.
 
A Look Ahead
Once the Bobcats return from Boone, N.C., Texas State will host UTSA in the first installment of the I-35 Rivalry at 6 p.m. Tuesday. After that, the Bobcats return to the road for a weekend series at South Alabama before returning home to host Texas the following Tuesday.