Texas State Finishes Regular Season at UT Arlington

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Bobcats head to UT Arlington for the final regular-season series of 2016, to be played Thursday–Saturday. Both Texas State and the Mavericks are part of a three-way tie for fifth place with Georgia Southern and will be playing to improve standing in the Sun Belt Conference before the SBC Championship Tournament. The Bobcats can reach as high as third in the standings.

Series Info: Texas State at UT Arlington

Site: Clay Gould Ballpark – Arlington, Texas

Dates: Thursday, May 19 – Saturday, May 21

Time: Thursday – 6:30 p.m. | Friday – 6:30 p.m. | Saturday – 2 p.m.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Thursday: #21 RHP Lucas Humpal (6-5, 2.89 ERA) vs. #12 RHP Kadon Simmons (9-4, 3.10 ERA)

Friday: TBA vs. #45 RHP Joel Kuhnel (5-3, 2.73 ERA)

Saturday: TBA vs. #11 LHP Jake Wilcox (4-4, 5.80 ERA)

The Series

The Bobcats have a long-standing series against UT Arlington, one in which Texas State has a 60-44 advantage. Head Coach Ty Harrington has gone 39-19 against the Mavericks. In the last three meetings, Texas State has outscored UT Arlington, 36-11, highlighted by a 22-8 win in San Marcos and a 10-2 victory in the SBC Championship Tournament.

Last Meeting

The last meeting between UTA and Texas State was in last season’s Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament. The Bobcats knocked home runs from Cory Geisler and David Paiz en route to a 10-2 victory. Geisler finished 2-for-5 as did Cedric Vallieres andLuke Sherley while Paiz went 2-for-3 with five RBIs and Ben McElroy finished 3-for-4. On the mound, Scott Grist threw the entire nine innings with three strikeouts.

On the Mavericks

UT Arlington is currently the hottest team in the Sun Belt Conference, winning the team’s last five games, including a 21-8 victory over Little Rock and an extra-inning win at Appalachian State. This season, the Mavericks have been a strong offensive team, sitting first in the SBC in hits (549), second in batting average (.298), RBIs (299), doubles (100), total bases (756), and third in runs scored (323).

The team’s pitching staff, however, carries a 4.39 ERA with a .274 opponent batting average. This weekend’s starters, however, are a combined 18-11.

At the plate, Quintin Rohrbaugh leads the team with a .359 batting average with Brady Cox not far behind at .358. The duo has combined for 146 hits this season, 24 doubles, three homers and 69 RBIs. The RBI leader, though, is Darien McLemore with 42 this season. Colton Turner is also coming off a hot streak that saw him win the past two SBC Student-Athlete of the Week awards.

On the Bobcats

Texas State is feeling good, coming off the team’s first win over Texas since 2005. That win is stacked off an impressive Sundayvictory over Arkansas State in which Jeremy Hallonquist threw his first complete game of the season and the second of his career. He will likely get an opportunity to start this weekend.

The Bobcat offense keeps striking hits with 525 this season, led by Tanner Hill with 69 so far this season. Jonathan Ortega isn’t far behind with 68 hits this year. Nine Bobcats this season have tallied 29 hits or more while they’ve struck 92 doubles. Hill leads that category as well with 17 while Ortega and Theodore Hoffman have combined for 22 doubles.

While Texas State’s offense is going at a good pace with a team batting average of .285, the pitching staff has done well too. Cory Geisler carries a 2.77 ERA with Lucas Humpal at 2.89. Jeremy Hallonquist (3.24 ERA) and Jonathan Hennigan (3.39 ERA) have also done well this year. In relief, Pasquale Mazzoccoli has racked up an SBC-leading 12 saves this season while Chase Hodson has 44 strikeouts in just 32 innings pitched. The duo are the only Bobcats with more strikeouts than innings pitched, but Hennigan stands at 58 and 58.1 innings.

A Look Ahead

It’s all about the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament now. After UT Arlington, the Bobcats will return home to host the tournament at Bobcat Ballpark with the goal to take it all and earn the SBC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to keep the season going. Tuesday night, fans can see a home run derby and the SBC Baseball awards ceremony with games to start Wednesdaymorning until the SBC Championship on Sunday.