SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State soccer team takes the pitch for its lone exhibition match on the road Saturday against 14th-ranked Baylor. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
 
Live stats will be available for the game while a video stream won't be provided. Admission to the match is free to all fans.
 
Sun Belt Favorites: Coming off the first-ever Sun Belt Conference regular season championship, the Bobcats were picked to repeat by the league's coaches. They received six of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 108 points to beat out South Alabama, which totaled 103 points and a lone first-place selection.
 
It is the first time that TXST has been favored in a conference preseason poll since 2010 as a member of the Southland Conference. That season, the Bobcats went 12-8-1 with a 5-3-1 league mark before falling in the conference tournament semifinals.
 
Preseason Awards: Five players were named to the All-Sun Belt Preseason Team, the most by any team in the conference. Kaylee Davis, Jordan Kondikoff, Heather Martin and Genesis Turman were named to the squad for the second straight year with Sarah Everett joining them after earning second team all-conference honors last season.
 
Davis and Martin were picked as the Sun Belt's Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. The duo are coming off historic program seasons. Davis tied the Bobcats' mark with 18 goals that tied for the third most in the nation while Martin set program records for GAA, save percentage and solo shutouts.
 
At the start of the month, Davis was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The award is given to the most outstanding male and female soccer player each year. The Allen, Texas native is the first Texas State player ever to be selected to the watch list and first women's Sun Belt honoree since 2011.
 
Who's Back: The Bobcats return 20 players from last year's championship team including eight starters. Along with the five preseason all-conference honorees, other top returners are starters back are Kathryn Budde, Addison Gaetano, Haley Groff, Ally Kewish, Jessica Pikoff, Renny Moore, Mackenzie Smith, Hannah Solano and Holly Streber.
 
Who's New: Texas State welcomes 10 true freshmen to the team. The class consists of four midfielders, three forwards, two defenders and one goalkeeper.
 
Scouting Baylor: The Bears are coming off a 20-6-0 season, a Big 12 regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. They were picked to finish second in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and enter the season ranked 14 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.
 
Saturday will be the second exhibition match for Baylor. On Sunday, Aug. 11, the Bears outshot Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 19-3 with a 9-2 advantage for shots on goal. However, the Islanders were able to find the back of the net in a 1-0 contest.
 
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