Baseball | 3/27/2016 4:55:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Bobcats gear up for a midweek game against former Southland Conference rivals. Texas State will travel to Huntsville, Texas, for a 6:30 p.m. Monday game at Sam Houston State.
 
Game Info: Texas State at Sam Houston State
Site: Don Sanders Stadium – Huntsville, Texas
Date: Monday, March 28
Time: 6:30 p.m.
 
Probable Pitching Matchup
#34 LHP Jonathan Hennigan (3.52 ERA, 2-0) vs. #27 RHP Spence Rahm (5.68 ERA, 0-2)
 
The Series                                                                                                  
Texas State and Sam Houston State have played a long series with the Bobcats holding the edge, 51-46. Head Coach Ty Harrington has done well against the Bearkats with a 31-15 career record against Sam Houston State. However, in the last meeting, the Bobcats dropped a 10-0 loss in San Marcos last season. Texas State's last road victory at SHSU came in a 9-8 victory on March 21, 2010.
 
Last Meeting
Last season, the Bearkats dropped the Bobcats, 10-0. They jumped on Texas State with three runs in the first two innings and added a combined six more runs in the middle three innings, finishing with a 10^th run in the ninth. Cory Geisler led the Bobcat offense on a 2-for-4 performance while Cody Lovejoy, Granger Studdard and Theodore Hoffman each added a hit in the game.
 
On the Bearkats
After opening the season with five losses, including three to UL Lafayette, Sam Houston State swept Big 12 opponent Oklahoma. Since then, though, SHSU has gone 9-7 and is on a streak of six consecutive wins heading into Monday night's game.
 
As a team, the Bearkats are hitting .274 with 223 hits, 128 RBIs and 108 runs this year. They have also been aggressive on the base paths, going 23-for-28 on stolen bases. Bryce Johnson leads the way with 11 steals on 12 attempts, and is also leading the squad in batting average at .367. He has 36 hits to lead the team with a .421 on-base percentage and 21 runs. After him, Zach Smith is hitting .354 with three spot contributors hitting .389, .357 and .302. The squad has struggled with power, only hitting nine home runs this year with no Bearkat having more than two.
 
On the mound, Sam Houston State has a 4.84 ERA, actually higher than opponents' 4.19. The Bearkats have tallied 170 strikeouts to 100 walks with an opponents' average of .263. The starter Texas State will face, Spence Rahm, has a 5.68 ERA and an 0-2 record in 6.1 innings, not starting a game this year. In eight appearances, he has given up seven hits, four earned runs and eight walks with nine strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .269 against him.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State had been rolling until suffering a setback this past weekend against Sun Belt Conference leader South Alabama. The Bobcats dropped three games to the Jaguars, but still stand at 15-9 on the season and 6-3 in Sun Belt action.
 
The Bobcat bats are still popping with a .303 team batting average, led by Dylan Paul and his .379. Not far behind is freshman Jonathan Ortega at .376 with 38 hits and a .438 on-base percentage. In all, seven Bobcats are hitting .300 or better with two in the .290s. The team is getting on base at a rate of .382 and have 17 stolen bases this season.
 
Right now, Tanner Hill is on a tear. In the last week, he hit .500 (9-for-18) with three home runs and a double, scoring four times. In Thursday's game, he hit two home runs and followed up with another bomb in Friday's game. For the year, he is hitting .323 and is second on the team in hits (30), runs (20), RBIs (17) and leads the squad in total bases (60). He is slugging .645.
 
Jonathan Hennigan will get his second midweek start of the year. He currently stands with a 3.52 ERA and two wins, notching 22 strikeouts so far this year, good enough for second on the team. The squad is right where Hennigan is at in ERA at 3.52, with 174 strikeouts to just 79 walks on the year, allowing opponents just a .230 batting average.
 
A Look Ahead
After Sam Houston State, it will be another important Sun Belt Conference series for the Bobcats. They'll travel to Statesboro, Ga., for a series at Georgia Southern, a team which Texas State is tied for second place in the SBC. The Bobcats will return home to host two midweeks against UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi followed by a series against Nevada.