Baseball | 5/7/2015 4:19:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State and Arkansas State play the second to last conference series of the regular season this weekend. The Bobcats, currently sixth in the Sun Belt Conference, are looking to move up in the SBC standings while Arkansas State, currently 10^th in the SBC, is looking to stay alive for postseason play.
                  
Game Info: Texas State (20-26-1, 12-12 SBC) vs. Arkansas State (20-26, 7-16 SBC)
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Friday – Sunday, May 8-10
Time: Friday – 6 p.m. | Saturday – 3 p.m. | Sunday – 11 a.m.
                                          
Probable Pitching Matchup
Friday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (5-5, 4.87 ERA) vs. #13 RHP David Owen (3-4, 2.37 ERA)
Saturday: #36 RHP Scott Grist (3-5, 5.45 ERA) vs. #23 RHP Adam Grantham (0-2, 2.60 ERA)
Sunday: #27 RHP Jeremy Hallonquist (4-2, 4.93 ERA) vs. TBA
 
The Series
Texas State and Arkansas State have only met six times in their history, and have played to a stalemate 3-3 record. The Bobcats headed into last season's series with a 2-1 record against the Red Wolves, but Arkansas State took the series, 2-1, in Jonesboro, Ark. The Bobcats will look to get back on top this series.
 
The Bobcats were able to win the first meeting in 2014 by a score of 4-3. The Red Wolves fought back to win the Saturday and Sunday games, 5-4, 4-1. Tanner Hill knocked the lone RBI for Texas State in the final game of the series while Colby Targun, Garrett Mattlage, Ben McElroy and Hill all struck for a hit in the game. Lucas Humpal, Cory Geisler and Justin Dellinger all pitched in the game, tallying five strikeouts.
 
On the Red Wolves
Arkansas State enters this weekend's series coming off an 8-6 victory over Central Arkansas in 13 innings. Before that, ASU dropped two of three to Kansas State on the road. The Red Wolves have lost two of their last three and three of their last five.
 
Currently, Arkansas State is second to last in the Sun Belt Conference standings and out of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, but not mathematically eliminated yet. The team can still play its way in to the postseason.
 
Top hitter Zach George is hitting .382 this season with 63 hits, 17 doubles, 23 RBI and 29 runs scored. Behind him, Austin Baker is hitting .309 while Lucas Feddersen is at .346 in limited opportunities. Baker leads the team in home runs with six while Matt Burgess leads the team in RBI with 33. Joe Schrimp has 30 RBI. As a team, the squad hits .270 compared to .257 for Arkansas State's opponents.
 
Teams have struggled to hit ASU because of two good starting pitchers. David Owen owns a 2.37 ERA while Adam Grantham has a 2.60 ERA. The duo has combined for 102 strikeouts and just 61 walks.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State is coming off a good showing on the road against Georgia State this past weekend. The Panthers were the conference leaders at the beginning of the weekend, but the Bobcats took two off GSU in the series, making an early statement with a 12-2 victory on Friday night behind Lucas Humpal on the mound then finishing the series with an 8-5 win on Sunday.
 
The Bobcats knocked four home runs in the series with two coming off the bat of Tanner Hill. He is quickly chasing down Granger Studdard and Cedric Vallieres for the team lead in home runs. In fact, the trio has been hitting second, third and clean up in the lineup and they have combined for 25 of Texas State's 35 home runs this year. Studdard knocked one against Georgia State along with David Paiz, who hit his second career homer at Texas State.
 
As a team, the Bobcats are hitting .244 on the year, but the bats have been popping at a solid rate lately. Friday against Georgia State, Texas State finished with a season-high 16 hits to score a season-high 12 runs. For the weekend, the Bobcats put up 25 runs for an average of 8.3 runs per game as opposed to the team's season average to that point of 5.0 runs per game.
 
The Bobcats are currently sixth in the Sun Belt Conference with a 12-12 record in conference play, but only two games separate Texas State from the ninth place team.
 
A Look Ahead
Texas State's regular season is quickly nearing its conclusion. After this weekend's series against Arkansas State, the Bobcats will host UT Arlington the next weekend before heading to the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament in Troy, Ala.