SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the third time, Texas State (5-3) will compete in the Astros Foundation College Classic. It will be a tough schedule as the Bobcats face off against Houston, No. 3 LSU and No. 15 Texas this weekend at Minute Maid Park.
 
Friday's game against the Cougars is slated for an 11 a.m. start. Saturday's and Sunday's games versus Texas and LSU, respectively, will see a first pitch at 3 p.m.
 
Texas State fans in the area five-state viewing area can watch the games on the Space City Home Network. All of the games can also be viewed on the Houston Astros website, Facebook page, Twitter page and YouTube channel for free. The games on Saturday and Sunday will be broadcast on KTSW 89.9 FM with Bill Culhane and Will Hollis on the call.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER
Friday: TXST RHP Austin Eaton (1-1, 7.11 ERA) vs. UH RHP Jaxon Jelkin (0-0, 3.24 ERA)
Saturday: TXST LHP Jack Stroud (1-1, 9.45 ERA) vs. UT RHP Charlie Hurley (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
Sunday: TXST RHP Sam Hall (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. LSU TBA
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
TXST is on a two-game winning streak after a dominating 23-2 victory on Tuesday against Prairie View A&M. That night saw the team set a program record with 16 walks drawn. The Bobcats are 3-3 all-time when competing in the Astros Foundation College Classic with two victories in 2019 and one in 2021.
 
Ryne Farber is off to a hot start offensive in his collegiate career. The freshman is batting .556 (15-for-27), which is 14th in the nation and leads the Sun Belt Conference, with 10 runs, eight RBI and four doubles. He also leads the team with nine walks and a .684 on-base percentage while striking out just once. His one punch out in 27 at-bats places him as the toughest batter to strikeout in the conference.
 
A team-high three home runs have been hit by Aaron Lugo and August Ramirez, who shares the team lead of nine RBI with Alec Patino. Hitting two round trippers on the year has been Cameron Thompson.
 
Starting on the rubber on Friday will be Austin Eaton (1-1, 7.11 ERA, 6 K) and will be followed by Jack Stroud (1-1, 9.45 ERA, 6 K) on Saturday. Sam Hall (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 K) is slated to make his first career start in a Texas State uniform on Sunday.
 
Both Taylor Seay (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 K) and Otto Wofford (1.80 ERA, 7 K) have made a team-high four relief appearances. Drayton Brown leads the team with nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings. The Northwestern State transfer has yet to allow a run in 5.2 innings over two contests.
 
ABOUT HOUSTON
The Cougars won their first six games of the season but enter the weekend on a two-game losing streak. They dropped the series finale to St. John's before falling to UTSA on Tuesday.
 
Both Tre Jones and Justin Murray lead the squad with a .464 average. Jones has driven in 10 runs and is 9-for-10 stealing bases while Murray has plated nine runs. Both have also hit two home runs along with Harold Coll (.333 AVG, 9 RBI), Jonathan French (.365 AVG, 4 RBI) and Ace Reece (.375 AVG, 10 RBI).
 
Scheduled to start on Friday is Jaxon Jelkin. The junior right-hander has started the two previous Friday nights and posted a 3.24 ERA in 8.1 innings with a team-high 13 strikeouts without receiving a decision.
 
SERIES VS. THE COUGARS
Houston leads the all-time series 34-21. Last time the teams met was Mar. 12-14, 2021 in San Marcos with the Cougars winning the series. Just twice before have the teams met at a neutral site with Texas State winning both games. The most recent such contest was Mar. 2, 2019 at Minute Maid Park with the Bobcats claiming the contest 9-4.
 
ABOUT TEXAS
Texas comes into the Minute Maid Park on a six-game winning streak. Its most recent victory was a 15-4 game over St. John's on Tuesday. Last weekend saw the Longhorns sweep Cal Poly at home and did not allow a run. Their lone loss of the season was a 6-5 setback to San Diego in 11 innings in the second game of year.
 
Jared Thomas comes in hitting a team-high .518 with 14 runs scored. Kimble Schuessler comes in batting .500 and has come around to score eight times. Peyton Powell (.441 AVG) has a team-high 18 RBI while his four homers are tied for the most with Jalin Flores (.344 AVG, 12 RBI).
 
Schedule to face Texas State on the mound is Charlie Hurley. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA and five strikeouts in 9.2 innings.
 
SERIES VS. THE LONGHORNS
The all-time series sees Texas hold a 55-14 lead. The teams have met twice in each of the last two seasons with the road team winning all four games.
 
Saturday will be the third meeting at a neutral site. The first was in Houston in the NCAA Houston Regional that saw the Longhorns win 7-5 on May 29, 1999. The most recent was Apr. 8, 2008 in Round Rock, Texas that UT also won by a score of 5-3.
 
ABOUT LSU
The defending national champions have won their last two games prior to this weekend. LSU's lone loss was at home last Friday to Stony Brook. On Wednesday, the Tigers defeated Rice on the road 16-4.
 
Paxton King leads the squad with a .409 batting average while scoring nine times and driving in nine runs. Also hitting over .400 is Steven Milam at .407. Tommy White, the team's All-American third baseman, has 10 RBI and hit one home run. Leading the way with four homers and 11 RBI is Jared Jones.
 
Sunday's starter is still to be announced.
 
SERIES VS. THE TIGERS
LSU leads the all-time series 3-0. The only time the teams have previously played was in a three-game series in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from Feb. 27-29, 2004. Texas State was limited to a run in each of the first two contests and scored twice in the series finale.
 
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