Baseball | 3/23/2016 2:44:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State welcomes South Alabama to San Marcos for a battle for first place in the Sun Belt Conference. Both teams own 6-0 records in conference play and carry some of the best pitchers in the SBC. Don't miss out on the most important series of the season to date.
 
Game Info: Texas State vs. South Alabama
Site: Bobcat Ballpark – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Thursday, March 24 – Saturday, March 26
Time: Thursday – 6 p.m. | Friday – 4 p.m. | Saturday – 12 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (1.85 ERA, 4-1) vs. #39 RHP Randy Bell (4.91 ERA, 0-1)
Friday: #27 RHP Jeremy Hallonquist (0.60 ERA, 2-0) vs. #30 RHP Kevin Hill (2.17 ERA, 4-1)
Saturday: #9 LHP Cory Geisler (0.00 ERA, 2-0) vs. RHP #25 Hunter Soleymani (4.15 ERA, 1-1)
 
The Series                                                                                                  
Texas State and South Alabama had not met until the Bobcats entered the Sun Belt Conference. Since then, the Jaguars have the advantage with a 4-2 record against Texas State. South Alabama took the series in both seasons. In each series, at least one game has gone to extra innings. The Friday night game in 2014 went 13 innings while the Saturday game in 2015 went to 11 innings.
 
Last Meeting
The Bobcats won the last meeting, 8-7. Jeremy Hallonquist earned the win while Blake Whitter picked up the save. In a game that saw 14 combined pitchers from both teams, Texas State pitched five pitchers. Cedric Vallieres led the Bobcats on a 3-for-5 performance with two RBIs and two runs while Luke Sherley was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs. Ben McElroy knocked a three-run homer in the game.
 
Sunday's victory in the series came after an 11^th-inning 2-1 loss for Texas State in Saturday's game and a 7-1 loss in the Friday game.
 
On the Jaguars
South Alabama is the only other team in the conference to start Sun Belt play undefeated. In conference play, USA boasts a 3.33 ERA while scoring 20 more runs than opponents, 44-24. South Alabama's Kevin Hill is this seasons SBC Preseason Pitcher of the Year and last year's conference Pitcher of the Year. He'll be throwing in Friday's game and has 47 strikeouts and eight walks this season with a 2.17 ERA. As a squad, the pitching staff has 139 strikeouts to just 62 walks on the year while opponents are hitting .255 against the Jaguars.
 
At the plate, USA is led by Drew LaBounty with a .366 batting average. He is, however, the only Jaguar hitting .300 or better. He leads the team in hits with 26 with 17 RBIs. Danny Martinez leads the team in RBIs with 22 on a .284 batting average. Three Jaguars have three home runs on the team while four others have knocked one out this year.
 
In the six games South Alabama has played in the conference, Cole Billingsley has a .500 batting average with 12 hits, six runs and five RBIs. Martinez has nine RBIs with six hits while LaBOunty and Brendan Donovan are the only other Jaguars hitting better than .300 in conference play with averages of .429 and .333 respectively.
 
South Alabama is third in the conference in runs scored (129) and RBIs (116) and fourth in team on-base percentage (.376) and leads the conference in walks (111) and steals (32). The Jaguars boast wins over Georgia and Cincinnati this season with home sweeps over Little Rock and UT Arlington in SBC action.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State has had a strong start to the season and conference play. Currently, the Bobcats lead the Sun Belt in batting average (.309), slugging percentage (.465), hits (228), doubles (45), triples (8), home runs (18), total bases (343). To prove that the team hasn't just been an offensive powerhouse, the team's pitching staff is second in the conference in opposing batting average (.201), hits allowed and tied for the conference lead in wins, saves and runs allowed.
 
Jeremy Hallonquist leads the conference in ERA (0.60), is second in opponents' batting average (.168) and is coming off a week in which he was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week, the fourth consecutive week in which a Bobcat has won a Student-Athlete of the Week award from the SBC. Meanwhile, Lucas Humpal leads the SBC in innings pitched (39.0), and is third in opposing batting average (.184), fourth in strikeouts (31), tied for sixth in strikeouts looking (10) and eighth in ERA (1.85).
 
The Bobcat bats have been popping with a team batting average of .309. Dylan Paul leads the team at .440 with Jonathan Ortega at .391. Ten Bobcats are hitting .300 or better with an eye-popping 34 hits from Ortega for second in the conference.
 
Texas State has a 3-1 series win over Pac-12 opponent Washington State while beating UCF, a team that ranked as high as sixth in the nation. Texas State also beat Baylor on the road and went to the 11^th inning against Texas.
 
Now with series sweeps over UL Monroe and Appalachian State, the Bobcats look to take hold of first place against South Alabama.
 
A Look Ahead
The Bobcats take to the road after the series against South Alabama to face Sam Houston State at 6:30 p.m. on Monday before traveling to Georgia Southern for Texas State's first road conference series of the season.