Baseball | 4/13/2015 4:20:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State and UTSA meet up for the third installment of the I-35 Rivalry this baseball season, set to play the rubber match at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bobcat Ballpark.
 
Game Info: Texas State (17-17-1) vs. UTSA (21-15)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Tuesday, April 14
Time: 6 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchup
#9 LHP Cory Geisler (2-0, 4.63 ERA) vs. #20 LHP Nolan Trabanino (1-5, 5.30 ERA)
 
The Series
The Bobcats and Roadrunners have split two meeting so far this season with each team winning their home games. The all-time series stands at 53-29 in favor of Texas State, but UTSA won the last game by a score of 5-4. The Bobcats hit four home runs in the game, but they were all solo shots and weren't enough to fight back from a 5-1 deficit after five innings.
 
The Roadrunners were in control of the first meeting through six innings, leading 5-0 after two, 7-2 after four and still holding onto a 7-4 lead after the fifth inning. In the seventh, however, the Bobcats started rolling and scored seven runs to make a furious comeback and win, 11-7. Texas State scored nine of the team's 11 runs with two outs in the inning.
 
On the Roadrunners
While UTSA lost the team's most recent game, the Roadrunners are coming to San Marcos after a 2-1 series win over Old Dominion. Dating back to the team's series finale against Florida International, UTSA has won four of the team's last five games and six of the team's last eight. They will come into the matchup against Texas State six games above .500 at 21-15.
 
The Roadrunners are known for the team's hitting prowess every year and this one is no different. As a squad, the team is hitting .282. They're led by Tyler Straub at .345 while Kevin Markham has a team-high 43 hits and is batting .323. Five Roadrunners are hitting.300 or higher this season, and they have knocked in 189 RBI compared to 177 for their opponents.
 
However, UTSA has been prone to give up runs as well. Opponents are hitting .292 against the Roadrunners and have tallied 23 more hits than UTSA. Tuesday, the Bobcats will face Nolan Trabanino, a lefty who has given up 49 hits and 30 runs (21 earned) in 35.2 innings and nine appearances. His ERA is 5.30 and he stands at 1-5 on the year, but he does have a good strikeout to walk ration with 25 strikeouts and eight walks this year. Opponents are hitting .327 against him.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State is coming off a tough series, dropping two of three games to UALR on the road. The Bobcats are looking to get right this week with four consecutive home games, hosting UTSA followed by a three-game series against UL Lafayette over the weekend. Before UALR, the Bobcats had won four consecutive games, starting with a three-game sweep over Big 12 opponent Baylor.
 
Against UTSA this season, Granger Studdard has led the way, hitting .625 in two games against the Roadrunners with three RBI on five hits. He has knocked two doubles and a home run. Cedric Vallieres leads the team in RBI against UTSA with four this year, knocking three home runs and scoring five times on four hits. Cory Geisler is hitting .400 against the Roadrunners with a homer, two RBI and three runs scored.
 
That top trio hasn't received much support throughout the rest of the lineup with only three RBI spread throughout the rest of the Bobcat hitters. In fact, no other Bobcat has multiple hits against UTSA this season.
 
One Bobcat who hasn't registered an at bat against UTSA, though, is Jared Huber, and he has the hottest bat on the squad right now. After the last game against UTSA, Huber was only hitting .214 on the season. Since then, on the other hand, Huber is hitting .423 with eight RBI on 11 hits and four walks in seven games. He has bumped his season batting average to .350.
 
Another Bobcat who stands out recently is senior Colby Targun. This past weekend, he went 5-for-11 for a .455 average and knocked in six RBI while scoring three runs against UALR.
 
Meanwhile, on the mound, Geisler gets his third start of the season. Bobcat fans last saw him against Incarnate Word where he notched two strikeouts and allowed no hits in 2.2 innings of relief. He currently has a 4.63 ERA in 23.1 innings and has given up 12 earned runs with 12 walks and 16 strikeouts.
 
A Look Ahead
The Bobcats are entering a tough stretch. After UTSA, Texas State hosts UL Lafayette, last season's Sun Belt Conference champion, then travels to Austin to face Texas, currently ranked 25^th nationally.