Baseball | 4/16/2015 4:01:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State hosts defending Sun Belt Conference champion UL Lafayette in a three-game series this weekend at Bobcat Ballpark. Games are subject to change due to inclement weather, but follow www.txstatebobcats.com or @txstatebaseball throughout the weekend for any updates.
 
Game Info: Texas State (17-18-1, 9-6 SBC) vs. UL Lafayette (21-14, 8-6 SBC)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Dates: Saturday – Sunday, April 18-19
Times: Saturday – 12 p.m. / 3 p.m. (Doubleheader) | Sunday – 1 p.m. (Games subject to change due to weather)
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (4-3, 5.19 ERA) vs. #28 LHP Gunner Leger (3-2, 3.63 ERA)
Saturday: #36 RHP Scott Grist (2-3, 4.07 ERA) vs. #18 RHP Evan Guillory (3-0, 3.75 ERA)
Sunday: #27 RHP Jeremy Hallonquist (4-0, 2.05 ERA) vs. TBA
 
The Series
Texas State and UL Lafayette have not met many times, but the Ragin' Cajuns hold the edge with a 12-6 record against the Bobcats. Last season, when UL Lafayette was the consensus No. 1 team in the country, Texas State went 1-4 against the squad, beating the Ragin' Cajuns at their place, 10-3, but falling in the other two games of the series and in two meetings in the Sun Belt Conference Championships Tournament.
 
In one of Texas State's losses to UL Lafayette last season, the Bobcats outhit the Ragin' Cajuns, 8-1, but, unfortunately, two errors and walks given up by Texas State led to a 2-0 ULL victory.
 
Texas State played the Ragin' Cajuns close yet again in the last meeting between the teams. After ULL went up 3-0 in the top of the second, scoring two unearned runs, the Bobcats answered with a run in the bottom of the third. In the sixth inning, UL Lafayette pushed the lead to 4-1, but the Bobcats made a late push in the eighth. Garrett Mattlage doubled to left center to score Cody Perkins, his second run of the day, and Cody Lovejoy came in on a wild pitch to pull the Bobcats within one run, 4-3. A double play ended the productive inning for Texas State. In the ninth, Tanner Hill doubled, but the Bobcats couldn't get him around.
 
On the Ragin' Cajuns
While UL Lafayette may not be the team it was last year, the squad is still dangerous. Before a midweek loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, ULL had won six consecutive games. This year, the Ragin' Cajuns took two off SEC opponent Alabama and sept Sun Belt Conference foe Troy the following weekend. After that, ULL won two of three against the current conference leader, Georgia State. Heading into this weekend, UL Lafayette (8-6) is just a half game behind Texas State (9-6) in conference play.
 
The pitching staff for UL Lafayette boasts the second best ERA in the Sun Belt at 3.50. They have been able to do that with freshman starters on the weekend. The Bobcats will face a freshman duo that includes Gunner Leger (3.63, 3-2) and Evan Guillory (3.75, 3-0). Greg Milhorn has been the third starter in the rotation, but Sunday is currently to be announced for UL Lafayette. Opponents are hitting just .239 against ULL.
 
At the plate, the Ragin' Cajuns are hitting .282 as a squad. The team's top hitter, Blake Trahan, is tied for second in the SBC in hits and has the second best on-base percentage in the conference at .477. He is hitting .360 with 49 hits, 11 doubles, a triple, a home run and 20 RBI. The top RBI hitter for ULL, though, is Nick Thurman with 26 on a .317 batting average. The team has hit 25 homers on the year, same as their opponents, and the same as Texas State. Five Ragin' Cajuns have 37 hits or more and five have 20 RBI or more on the year.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State currently sits tied with Troy for fourth in the Sun Belt Conference behind leader Georgia State, South Alabama and Georgia Southern, a team from which the Bobcats took two of three. Since a four-game winning streak that included a sweep of Big 12 opponent Baylor, the Bobcats have dropped three of the team's last four contests.
 
The team's top hitter right now is freshman catcher Jared Huber at .364. His batting average, however, bottomed out at .214 before the Baylor series. He took over the starting catcher's spot against Baylor and has been there ever since, hitting .433 in the stretch with 13 hits, nine RBI, five runs scored and a .514 on-base percentage.
 
Three other bats that have stood out for Texas State in the last 10 games are those of Tanner Hill, Ben McElroy and Granger Studdard. All three batters have hit .300 or better in the stretch with Hill at .368. The trio has combined for 35 hits, 26 RBI, 22 runs and nine of Texas State's 15 home runs in the stretch. Studdard is knocking runners in at a rate better than an RBI per game with 11 RBI in the last 10 games.
 
The Bobcats will send out the same starting rotation this weekend with Lucas Humpal on Friday, Scott Grist on Saturday and Jeremy Hallonquist on Sunday. So far, the best of the trio has been Hallonquist, who stands at 4-0 in nine appearances and three starts with a 2.05 ERA. In just three starts, he already has a complete-game win against Baylor, one of three complete games for Texas State this year. He has 26 strikeouts to 11 walks and given up just seven earned runs. Opponents are struggling to hit him at .214.
 
A Look Ahead
The Bobcats will face Texas in Austin after the UL Lafayette series. From there, the team stays on the road for a conference series against Troy, a midweek at Texas A&M, and another conference series at Georgia State before another game at Texas. The road trip will be nine games before returning home to host Arkansas State.