Baseball | 3/16/2015 10:13:00 PM

SAN MARCOS – Texas State returns home from a successful road trip to host I-35 Rival UTSA at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at Bobcat Ballpark.

Game Info: Texas State (8-10-1) vs. UTSA (12-7)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Tuesday, March 17
Time: 6 p.m.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Tuesday: #13 RHP Montana Parsons (0-2, 1.20 ERA) vs. #34 RHP Boone Mokry (1-0, 2.57 ERA)

The Series                                                                                                  
Texas State has an overwhelming advantage over UTSA with a 52-29 overall record against the Roadrunners. Head Coach Ty Harrington is 30-19 against UTSA in his career. However, the Roadrunners did win the most recent game, a 7-2 loss by the Bobcats in San Antonio last season. Before that, though, Texas State had won three consecutive games in the series.
 
The first game against UTSA last season was a thrilling victory for the Bobcats. Trailing, 6-3, going to the bottom of the ninth, the Bobcats scored four runs to win in walk-off fashion, 7-6. Texas State loaded the bases for Garrett Mattlage who knocked a bases-clearing double to tie the game. Granger Studdard followed with his third walk-off hit of the season to plate Mattlage with a shot to left centerfield for the win.
 
In the last meeting, it was UTSA who thundered back with a big inning. The Bobcats held a slight edge, 2-1, going to the bottom of the eighth inning in San Antonio before the Roadrunners scored six runs, four of which were unearned, to win it.

On the Roadrunners
The Roadrunners of UTSA come into the midweek with a winning record at 12-7 and they have won four consecutive with a sweep of Marshall on the road and a win over Houston Baptist in San Antonio. They have been good at home, winning two against UL Lafayette to start the season. On the road, however, UTSA was just 1-4 before the weekend sweep of Marshall.
 
Texas State will be on the lookout for the team's top hitter, Tyler Straub. He's batting .359 with nine RBI and a home run while Kevin Markham is at .338. The team's top RBI hitter is John Bormann with 12 on the season. He has seven extra-base hits with two homers. C.J. Pickering and Matt Hilston each have 11 RBI while Geonte Jackson has 10 and four others have nine RBI on the year.
 
The squad has done well with the long ball, knocking 12 home runs on the season to seven for opponents.
 
The Bobcats will face Boone Mokry who owns a 2.57 ERA with two wins so far this season. He has only pitched seven innings. In that time, he struck out four batters and walked three while giving up two earned runs. Opponents are only hitting .182 against him. He started against the Bobcats in UTSA's last win over Texas State, but only went 1.2 innings in the start.

On the Bobcats
Like UTSA, Texas State is also coming off a three-game sweep on the road, putting away Appalachian State this past weekend in impressive fashion. The Bobcats played their first errorless game of the season and were able to win in different ways. Texas State dominated the Mountaineers, 8-3, in Friday's game but came through with clutch home runs late to clinch games on Saturday and Sunday.
 
The Bobcats hit two home runs in the series to give the team five on the season, led by three from Cedric Vallieres. Vallieres put together a strong series against App State, scoring two runs and knocking two RBI in each game. Derek Scheible knocked his first collegiate home run in the eighth inning of Sunday's game to break a 5-5 tie and secure the win for the Bobcats.
 
The freshman finished the weekend hitting .444 while both Vallieres and David Paiz hit .417 in the series. As a team, the Bobcats hit .278 with 18 RBI and slugged .426. Ten Bobcats struck for at least one hit on the weekend.
 
Texas State will pitch Montana Parsons against UTSA. He owns a 1.20 ERA to lead the team and has made four appearances this year. In 15 innings, he has given up just two earned runs and 17 hits, striking out six batters and walking three.

A Look Ahead
The Bobcats will waste no time getting back to the road, traveling to Mobile, Ala., for a weekend series against South Alabama this weekend. After that, Texas State will return home to host Texas in the midweek and Georgia Southern for a Sun Belt Conference series over the weekend March 27-29.