Bobcats Travel to Face Arkansas State

by, Joshua Flanagan

SAN MARCOS – Texas State finishes the regular season on the road before returning home to host the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament May 25-29. The front end of that road trip starts at Arkansas State with games at 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday. With two wins this weekend, the Bobcats can secure a spot in the SBC Championship Tournament.

Game Info: Texas State at Arkansas State

Site: Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field – Jonesboro, Ark.

Date: Friday, May 13 – Sunday, May 15

Time: Friday – 6 p.m. | Saturday – 4 p.m. | Sunday – 12 p.m.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday: RHP #21 Lucas Humpal (6-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. RHP #12 Cody Jackson (1-3, 4.70 ERA)

Saturday: LHP #34 Jonathan Hennigan (4-2, 3.39 ERA) vs. RHP #17 Peyton Culbertson (4-0, 3.41 ERA)

Sunday: TBA vs. TBA

The Series                                                                                                  

Arkansas State has the advantage in the all-time series, 6-3. The former employer of Head Coach Ty Harrington (he was an assistant coach at Arkansas State for two seasons) has won five in a row over the Bobcats after Texas State built a 3-1 lead in the series. The Bobcats did get a road win in the series back on March 29, 2014, taking the game, 4-3.

Last Meeting

The Bobcats and Red Wolves played a series in San Marcos last season, with ASU getting the better of the Bobcats in all three games. But in the last game, the Bobcats fought back from a 6-0 deficit after the top of the first to eventually head to the ninth inning tied, 10-10, before the Red Wolves scored in the final inning to win the game, 11-10. Cory Geisler led the team on a 3-for-3 performance with two homers, four RBIs and four runs. Tanner Hill also homered to finish with four RBIs in the game.

On the Red Wolves

Arkansas State is in a three-way tie for second to last in the Sun Belt Conference, fighting with Georgia State and UL Monroe for a spot in the SBC Championship Tournament. The Red Wolves are coming off two non-conference wins, but lost four games previous to that.

Tanner Ring leads the team offensively with a .313 batting average in 44 games. He has struck 56 hits with 13 doubles, two triples and seven home runs for 34 RBIs. Behind him are Joe Schrimpf (.305) and Garrett Rucker (.301) who have hit for 51 and 47 hits respectively, combining for eight homers. Meanwhile, with a .276 batting average, Ty White has 54 hits on the season.

As a team, ASU is hitting .251 but giving up an opponents’ average of .279. The Bobcats are hitting .287 as a squad. The Arkansas State pitching staff seems to be looking for a regular set of starters. They will start a redshirt senior with a 1-3 record and a 4.70 ERA and freshman Peyton Culbertson with a 4-0 record and a 3.41 ERA. Sunday will be announced later.

On the Bobcats

Before dropping an 11-inning game to Georgia State on Sunday, the Bobcats had won four games in a row and were starting to heat up. The run helped Texas State get into position to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament with two wins this weekend. The hottest bat on the squad belongs to Ryan Newman who has 19 hits in the past nine games, registering at least one hit in each game for the longest current hitting streak on the squad.

In addition to Newman, ASU will have to deal with Dylan Paul and Tanner Hill, both players with batting averages higher than Newman’s .322. Paul is hitting .343 while Hill is at .328 with the team lead in hits at 65. Not far behind is freshman Jonathan Ortegawith 63 hits for second on the team. Ortega is one of eight Bobcats hitting .303 or better this season and one of eight Bobcats with 30 hits or more this year.

The offense is rolling with a .387 batting average, 40 home runs and 491 hits for the Bobcats, but the pitching has stepped up as well.Pasquale Mazzoccoli tied the school record for most saves in a season with 11 over the weekend while Lucas Humpal continues to add to his strikeout record with 76 on the season. He has an impressive ERA of 2.90 with Cory Geisler at 2.86, Jeremy Hallonquistat 3.27 and Jonathan Hennigan at 3.39. Both Humpal and Hennigan will pitch this weekend for the Bobcats with Sunday to be announced.

A Look Ahead

After Arkansas State, the Bobcats will return to Texas but travel up the road to face the Longhorns for the Tuesday midweek game. The next series will be at UT Arlington with games at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. Then the Bobcats will return home to host the SBC Championship Tournament May 25-29 at Bobcat Ballpark.