SAN MARCOS, Texas – After playing the last five games on the road, the Texas State baseball team returns to Bobcat Ballpark this weekend when it hosts ULM in the first Sun Belt Conference series of the season.
 
Friday's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and Saturday is slated to see the first pitch at 2:30 p.m. The series finale on Sunday will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Coming into the weekend, the Bobcats are 12-9 overall and 1-2 in the conference while the Warhawks are 7-13 on the season and 0-3 in Sun Belt play.
 
A video stream and live stats will be available for all three games. Brant Freeman will be on the radio call on KTSW 89.9 FM for all the contests.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: TXST RHP Nicholas Fraze (2-2, 6.28 ERA, 35 K) vs. ULM LHP Trey Jeans (0-3, 4.34 ERA, 20 K)
Saturday: TXST RHP Hunter McMahon (2-2, 3.34 ERA, 24 K) vs. ULM RHP Ty Barnes (1-0, 11.05 ERA, 8 K)
Sunday: TXST RHP Connor Reich (3-0, 2.12 ERA, 27 K) vs. ULM TBA
 
Scouting Texas State
Texas State is coming off a 6-1 defeat at Incarnate Word on Tuesday in which the Bobcats were held to four hits, matching their season-low. At home this season, TXST is 4-4 after dropping two of three against UConn two weeks ago.
 
Will Hollis leads the Bobcats and is seventh in the Sun Belt with a .361 batting average. The junior outfielder is also second in the conference in on-base percentage (.524) and tied for fourth in walks (19). He has driven in a team-high 15 runs and is tied for the team lead with Cole Coffey with six doubles. Hollis heads into the weekend with a 15-game reached base streak.
 
Jaylen Hubbard is batting .333 with a team-high 28 hits and four triples. He has scored 21 runs while driving in nine. Jaxon Williams is the only other Bobcat hitting over .300 at .321. He is second in the Sun Belt with 25 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with two home runs.
 
Also belting two homers on the year is Skyler Valentine. The senior outfielder comes in with 14 RBIs. Coming in with double-digit RBIs on the year as well are Chase Evans (10) and Ryan Newman (12).
 
Kyle Bradford has made a team-high 10 appearances, tied for the fifth most in the conference. He has a 1.42 ERA with seven strikeouts and thrown 12.2 innings. Both Brent Hebert (1-1, 1.69 ERA) and Brandon Lewis (0-1, 4.15 ERA) have pitched in eight games out of the bullpen.
 
Scouting ULM
ULM has lost four straight after falling 5-4 on the road at Southern Miss on Tuesday. The Warhawks are 2-8 in their last 10 games and come in with a 0-5 record in true road games.
 
Trent Tinglestad leads the team and is fifth in the Sun Belt with a .377 batting average. The junior outfielder also paces ULM in hits (26), runs scored (18), doubles (6), RBI (19) and walks (21).
 
The only other Warhawk batting over .300 is Andrew Beesley (.333). He has driven in 18 runs, recorded 25 hits and is 8-for-9 stealing bases.
 
Chad Bell enters with a team-high three home runs while Ryan Humeniuk is 9-for-12 stealing bags.
 
Brock Figueroa has the lowest ERA on the staff at 2.25. He is 1-0 with two of the team's three saves in eight innings over five appearances. Mike Dunn has made a team-high nine relief appearances while going 1-0 with a 6.94 ERA and 11.2 innings.
 
Both Kolton Childress and Landon Longsworth have pitched in eight games out of the bullpen. Childress is 1-0 with a save, 3.46 ERA and team-high 21 strikeouts. Longsworth sports a 3.38 ERA and has struck out nine in 8.0 innings.
 
All-Time Series
Texas State leads the all-time series 43-34. Last season saw ULM win two of three games in Monroe, Louisiana. The lone win for the Bobcats was an 8-2 contest in the series opener.
 
When playing the Warhawks in San Marcos, TST is 23-15 all-time. The Bobcats are 7-2 at home against ULM since joining Sun Belt including a series sweep in 2016.
 
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