Baseball | 3/30/2015 4:19:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State heads to San Antonio for baseball's second installment of the I-35 Rivalry with UTSA this season. The Bobcats survived the last meeting, 11-7, and are coming off a big series victory over Georgia Southern this past weekend.
 
Series Info: Texas State (12-14-1) at UTSA (15-13)
Site: Roadrunner Field – San Antonio, Texas
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 6 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
#13 RHP Montana Parsons (0-2, 3.42 ERA) vs. #7 RHP Chance Kirby (1-1, 5.89 ERA)
 
The Series
With Texas State's most recent win over UTSA, the Bobcats improved to 53-29 against the Roadrunners all-time. The Bobcats were able to bounce back off UTSA's previous win in the series with seven runs scored in the seventh inning to win the game, 11-7. Texas State scored nine of the team's 11 runs with two outs and scored nine unanswered to close out the game with the win. Joe Powell picked up the victory and Blake Whitter earned the save.
 
At the plate, Cory Geisler and Granger Studdard each finished 3-for-5 while Cedric Vallieres knocked two hits in the game. Three others tallied a hit. Vallieres was the first Bobcat to score when he came in on a Studdard double. David Paiz scored later on a wild pitch.
 
In the fifth inning, Vallieres knocked a two-run homer, and the Bobcats followed with the team's big seventh inning to put the game out of reach.
 
On the Roadrunners
The Roadrunners of UTSA are coming off a 1-2 weekend against Florida Atlantic. However, the team's Saturday win was a big one, outscoring FAU, 14-3. The Roadrunners have lost six of their last nine games played, dating back to the last meeting against the Bobcats.
 
Texas State will still have to be ready for the big bats of UTSA. The Roadrunners are hitting .290 as a team with 20 home runs, 150 RBI and 169 runs on the year. Tyler Straub leads the team with 35 hits and a .354 batting average. The team's top RBI-hitter is Jesse Baker with 19 on the year on 28 hits in 19 games played. He's hitting .346. Eight Roadrunners have 10 RBI or more this season.
 
The Bobcats will face Chance Kirby on the mound. In 10 appearances and one start this year, he has 16 strikeouts and six walks but has given up 12 earned runs on 24 hits for a 5.89 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .320 against the freshman.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State heads into this midweek game in pretty good shape. Not only did the team beat UTSA in the last meeting, but the Bobcats are coming off a series victory over Georgia Southern to take hold of the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference. In fact, Texas State has won three of the team's last five games and one of the losses came after dominating No. 10 Texas for seven innings last week.
 
Montana Parsons gets the nod on the mound for Texas State. He started the last meeting against UTSA, but only pitched 1.2 innings in which he gave up five hits, five earned runs and a walk. He struck out two. He rebounded last week with an impressive performance against Texas, pitching seven innings and only allowing three hits and two earned runs with no walks and six strikeouts against one of the top teams in the country.
 
At the plate, the Bobcat bats are starting to heat up. Texas State tallied nine hits and three home runs in a Sunday victory against Georgia Southern. So far on the year, Texas State has hit 13 home runs, led by Cedric Vallieres with four. Eight of Texas State's home runs have come since the last meeting against UTSA.
 
Since that game, sophomore Granger Studdard has heated up, hitting .313 with three homers, seven RBI, six extra-base hits and a .688 slugging percentage.
 
A Look Ahead
Next up for the Bobcats after UTSA is a series against Baylor. The Bobcats will host the Bears at 6 p.m. Thursday, then travel to Waco for the remaining two games of the series at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. Next week's midweek opponent will be Incarnate Word at Bobcat Ballpark at 6 p.m. before the team returns to the road for a series at UALR.