SAN MARCOS, Texas – Former Southland Conference rivals will face off this weekend at Bobcat Ballpark when Texas State (7-5) hosts Sam Houston (8-6) for a three-game series that begins Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the finale on Sunday will see first pitch at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can watch games on Saturday and Sunday on ESPN+ with Brant Freeman and Ty Harrington on the call. While there won't be a stream on Friday, the contest will be broadcast on KTSW 89.9 FM. Live stats will also be available.
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER
Friday: TXST RHP Austin Eaton (1-1, 5.56 ERA) vs. SH RHP Colton Atkinson (2-1, 2.70 ERA)
Saturday: TXST RHP Sam Hall (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. SH RHP Miles Hellums (2-1, 7.98 ERA)
Sunday: TXST RHP Drayton Brown (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. SH LHP Gavi Coldiron (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
The final non-conference series before Sun Belt Conference play begins sees the Bobcats enter on a two-game skid after falling to No. 3 LSU to end the Astros Foundation College Classic and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday. TXST has started a 10-game stretch in which it plays nine games at home.
 
Ryne Farber has continued his hot start to his collegiate career. The freshman is batting a team-high .488, which leads the Sun Belt Conference, ranks second among freshmen in the country and is the 19th highest overall. He also paces the team with 16 runs, 11 walks, four doubles and a .614 on-base percentage that also leads the conference, best among all freshmen in the nation and is 12th best in the country.
 
Alec Patino is hitting .381 and Daylan Pena comes in batting .323. Both Aaron Lugo (4 HR) and August Ramirez (3 HR) have posted a .314 average. Chase Mora has driven in a team-high 18 runs with 14 coming over the last five games.
 
Making his fourth straight Friday night start is Austin Eaton, who is 1-1 with a 5.56 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Sam Hall will get the ball on Saturday after making his first start as a Bobcat this past Sunday. Getting the ball on Sunday will be Drayton Brown, who is tied for the staff lead with 12 strikeouts.
 
A team best seven relief appearances have been made by Taylor Seay. The right-hander is 1-0 with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Both Rhett McCaffety (2.45 ERA, 10 K) and Otto Wofford (6.35 ERA, 8 K) have come out of the bullpen six times.
 
ABOUT SAM HOUSTON
Heading into the weekend, the Bearkats have lost two straight and three of their last four. Tuesday saw them fall at Houston 2-1 on a walk-off hit and they also dropped a home series to St. John's last weekend. Sam Houston swept the series against Dartmouth and won the season opening weekend series against Oklahoma State.
 
Walker Janek leads the team with a .412 average, .456 OBP and five stolen bases. The junior catcher has eight RBI, scored eight times and hit one home run. Hunter Autrey is hitting .389 with a team best four homers and 11 runs scored. Also batting over. 300 is Jeffrey David at .354 while also driving in a team-high nine RBI and scoring nine runs.
 
Right-hander Colin Atkinson takes the hill on Friday and has struck out a staff best 18 batters in 16.2 innings. Miles Hellums is slated to begin Saturday's game and enters with a 7.98 ERA and nine punch outs in 14.2 frames with opponents hitting .344 off him. Rounding out the weekend rotation is Gavi Coldiron, who is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and nine strikeouts.
 
Picking up a save apiece this season has been Chandler David (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 14 K), Logan Hewitt (0.00 ERA, 15 K) and Wyatt Tucker (0-1, 2.84 ERA, 11 K).
 
SERIES VS. THE BEARKATS
Texas State holds a slim 54-53 advantage in the all-time series and has won two of the last three meetings. The Bobcats are 25-25 all-time when hosting Sam Houston. Last season saw TXST claim a 6-2 win at home in midweek action.
 
This weekend will be the first series between the teams since 2012 in Huntsville when the teams were members of the Southland Conference. Last time the programs met in San Marcos for a series was Mar. 18-20, 2011 that saw the Bobcats win all three games.
 
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