Baseball | 4/23/2015 7:41:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State continues the team's road trip that started Tuesday at Texas with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Troy this weekend. It'll be a battle between two teams currently tied for fifth in the conference behind Georgia State, Georgia Southern, South Alabama and UL Lafayette.
 
Game Info: Texas State (18-21-1, 10-7 SBC) at Troy (22-20, 11-8 SBC)
Site: Riddle-Pace Field – Troy, Ala.
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 24-26
Times: Friday – 6 p.m. | Saturday – 1 p.m. | Sunday – 12 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
#21 RHP Lucas Humpal (4-4, 5.51 ERA) vs. #26 RHP Grant Bennett (7-2, 2.70 ERA)
#36 RHP Scott Grist (3-3, 4.25 ERA) vs. #20 RHP Lucas Brown (4-1, 2.48 ERA)
#27 RHP Jeremy Hallonquist (4-1, 3.63 ERA) vs. #40 LHP Austin Crook (3-0, 5.60 ERA)
 
The Series
Texas State had never faced Troy until the Trojans made the trip to San Marcos last season. The Bobcats swept Troy with scores of 7-3, 5-2 and 6-2 in the finale. Cory Geisler led Texas State in hits against Troy last year with four in the series while David Paiz added three. Granger Studdard added three RBI in the three-game set.
 
In the last game between the two, the Bobcats scored three runs in the opening inning. Geisler led off with a single and Paiz followed with one of his own. A double from Garrett Mattlage scored the first run, and then Paiz and Mattlage scored later in the inning. After a fifth-inning score from Troy, the Bobcats added three runs in the sixth and seventh innings to just one for Troy to finish up with a 6-2 victory.
 
On the Trojans
Troy has gone 2-2 in the team's last four games, going 1-2 at UT Arlington and winning one at Kennesaw State during the midweek. The Trojans have won four conference series so far this season.
 
Trevin Hall, Logan Hill and David Hall lead the Trojans at the plate. Trevin Hall is hitting .375 to lead the team, but Hill has the lead in hits with 53 on a .342 batting average. He leads the squad by far in RBI with 32. Hill has also sent out six home runs, one shy of Reid Long's team-lead of seven. David Hall is hitting .320 with 33 hits and seven extra-base hits.
 
Once on base, the Trojans have been dangerous, stealing 62 bases in 80 attempts. This year, the Bobcats have given up 66 steals on 92 attempts to opponents so it should be a point to watch throughout the series.
 
Troy's top two starters: Lucas Brown and Grant Bennett are in good shape in regards to earned run average, standing at 2.48 and 2.70 respectively. The two have combined for an 11-3 record in 24 appearances. Brown has 37 strikeouts to 18 walks while Bennett has struck out 57 with just 20 walks. Sunday's lefty starter, Austin Crook, stands at 5.60 with 21 strikeouts to eight walks in 35.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .313 against him.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State comes into this weekend's series just 4-6 in the team's last 10 games, but the team should have confidence after a sweep in 2014.
 
Jared Huber continues to lead the squad with a .322 batting average, but Tanner Hill is the hottest bat on the squad in the last 10 games. He is hitting .333 in the last 10 with 12 hits, 10 runs, four homers and eight RBI. Colby Targun has been making his hits count, knocking in a team-high 10 RBI on just nine hits in the last 10 games. He is hitting at a clip of .290 in that stretch.
 
In the most recent four games, two other bats have come on strong for the Bobcats in Cory Geisler and David Paiz. Geisler is hitting .467 in the last four games with three RBI on seven hits, three of which were extra-base hits. Paiz is hitting .417 in the stretch with five hits, including his first homer at Texas State.
 
The Bobcats will pitch the same weekend rotation against Troy.
 
A Look Ahead
Texas State continues its road trip after Troy with a midweek game at Texas A&M followed by a road conference series at Georgia State. After that, the Bobcats will play Texas in Austin again before returning home to host Arkansas State.