Baseball | 4/20/2015 11:06:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State heads to Austin to take on the Longhorns of Texas for the second time this season. The Bobcats hosted Texas back on March 24 and will play the Longhorns again on May 5. Texas State is looking to improve upon the team's 3-5 record in midweek games this year.
 
Game Info: Texas State (18-20-1, 10-7 SBC) at Texas (21-14, 8-7 Big 12)
Site: UFCU Disch-Falk Field – Austin, Texas
Date: Tuesday, April 21
Time: 6 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchup
#13 RHP Montana Parsons (0-3, 4.15 ERA) vs. #30 LHP Josh Sawyer (2-2, 4.54 ERA)
 
The Series
Texas State is on the short end of a 41-9 record against Texas all-time. Head Coach Ty Harrington is 5-27 against the team, with the last win for the Bobcats coming in 2005. However, in the last meeting between the teams, Texas State played the Longhorns as well as in any game, leading through seven innings of the game. Both teams started the same pitchers in that contest.
 
Cory Geisler started the game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. After Cedric Vallieres reached on a hit by pitch, David Paiz knocked him in with a double to put the Bobcats up 2-0 early. Texas would cut the deficit in half with a run in the third inning. Texas State, however, countered with a run in the fourth against the Texas relief pitcher.
 
Freshman Derek Scheible earned a walk and stole second. A Luke Sherley single to centerfield scored Scheible to put Texas State up 3-1. Both teams traded runs in the fourth for a 4-2 lead for the Bobcats that held until the eighth inning. C.J. Hinojosa brought the Longhorns back with a three-run homer and Texas added an insurance run in the ninth for a 6-4 victory.
 
On the Longhorns
Texas was ranked 10^th in the country last time the teams met. Since then, however, Texas has fallen out of the national rankings. This past weekend, though, the Longhorns showed what they are capable of offensively.
 
After dropping 10 of the last 12 games, including a seven-game losing streak, going into the weekend, the Longhorns won two of three against Big 12 opponent Kansas. In a 16-7 victory over the Jayhawks, Texas scored the team's most runs in a game since 2011 and knocked five home runs, the most by the team since 2010. The Longhorns fell just two hits shy of a school record with 23 hits on Sunday.
 
Texas starter Josh Sawyer only last three innings against the Bobcats in the last meeting, but Ty Culbreth, Texas' fourth pitcher of the night, got the win with a 1/3 of an inning pitched. Texas used six pitchers in the contest while the Bobcats used three.
 
Ben Johnson leads the Longhorns from the plate with a .349 batting average, having knocked a team-high 60 hits with 21 extra-base hits, five home runs, 26 RBI and 28 runs scored. He was 4-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored, three RBI, a double and two home runs Sunday.
 
Outside of Johnson, though, the Longhorns don't have a .300 hitter, much like the Bobcats. Tres Barrera sits at .298 while Michael Cantu is at .290 on the season. They have been able to rack up runs though with five Longhorns have scored 20 runs or more and eight with double-digit runs this year. Seven Longhorns have 32 hits or more this season. As a team, they are hitting .251.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State is coming off a series loss to 2014 Sun Belt Conference Champion UL Lafayette this past weekend, but feel confident after the team's last showing against Texas.
 
After struggling through a stretch, Cory Geisler bounced back in a big way, going 6-for-12 against UL Lafayette with three extra-base hits, including two triples. Meanwhile, the big bats worked for Texas State as they hit four home runs in the series, two from Tanner Hill in the same game. David Paiz knocked his first career homer at Texas State and Granger Studdard pulled into a tie with Cedric Vallieres for the team lead in home runs with his eighth of the year. Paiz's home run gave Texas State 29 for the season so far, one more than the team hit all last year.
 
As a team, the Bobcat bats popped for a .303 average with five Bobcats hitting .300 or better for the weekend. For the year, Jared Huber is the only Bobcat hitting better than .300 at .345, coming on strong in the last 11 games since he took over as the starter at catcher. Texas State is hitting .241 as a team for the season.
 
Five Bobcats have notched 32 hits or more so far this season, led by Studdard and his 42 hits. Paiz is the only other Bobcat in the 40s. Studdard, Hill and Vallieres have RBIs in the 20s, led by Vallieres' 26.
 
In his last meeting against Texas, Montana Parsons did very well for himself. He went seven innings only giving up three hits and two earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts.
 
A Look Ahead
Texas is the first of nine games the Bobcats will play on the road, including a three-game series at Troy this weekend followed by a showdown at Blue Bell Park against the No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies. After that, the Bobcats will travel to Atlanta for a Sun Belt Conference series at Georgia State before returning to Austin for the third game of the season against Texas.