MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team will travel to San Marcos, Texas, for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Texas State this weekend at Bobcat Baseball Stadium.

USA enters the weekend tied with Texas State atop the SBC standings. First pitch for Thursday's series opener is set for 6 p.m. Game two is set for 4 p.m. Friday, and Saturday's series finale is scheduled for a noon first pitch.

Jaguar right-hander Randy Bell (0-1) will make his second career start at USA in the series opener. Bell enters the weekend with a 4.91 ERA and five strikeouts against two walks in 7 1/3 innings pitched. He allowed three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings pitched in his first career start last week at Southeastern Louisiana.

Texas State will send right-hander Lucas Humpal (4-1) to the mound to open the series. Humpal carries a 1.85 ERA in five starts into the game, and has 31 strikeouts against six walks in 39 innings pitched. He has tossed two complete games with one shutout.

Jaguar right-hander Kevin Hill (4-1) will make his sixth start of the year in game two. Hill carries a 2.17 ERA into the contest, along with a SBC-leading 47 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings pitched. He has tossed two complete games, with the most recent coming in a 4-3 win last weekend against Texas-Arlington.  

Bobcat right-hander Jeremy Hallonquist (2-0) carries a league-leading 0.60 ERA into his start in game two on Friday. Hallonquist has struck out 19 batters and issued five walks in 30 innings pitched this season, and combined for one shutout while limiting the opposition to a .168 batting average. 

USA right-hander Hunter Soleymani (1-1) will make his fifth start of the season in the series finale. Soleymani enters the game with a 4.15 ERA and 14 strikeouts with 10 walks in 26 innings. He has posted two quality starts this year, including last weekend when he tossed a career-high 8 1/3 innings in a no decision against Texas-Arlington which the Jags won 4-3. 

Bobcat left-hander Cory Geisler (2-0) will make his second start of the season in game three. Geisler has appeared in three games, and struck out eight batters while issuing two walks in 9 1/3 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .212 against him.

USA holds a 4-2 all-time lead over Texas State in a series that just began in 2014. The Jags took two of three games from the Bobcats last season at Stanky Field, including an 11th-inning 2-1 win in game two which came on a bases-loaded walk-off single from Ben Gann. South Alabama took two of three games from Texas State in San Marcos in 2014, which included a 13-inning 5-4 win in the series opener.

South Alabama is off to its best start in SBC play since it opened the 2002 conference season with six straight wins. The Jags have won seven of their last eight weekend games, including two straight SBC series sweeps to open league play.

Texas State fell to Texas-Rio Grande Valley Tuesday night in extra innings after sweeping a three-game conference series from Appalachian State last weekend. The Bobcats are 12-2 at home this season and have won nine consecutive home contests entering the weekend. 

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on WNTM 710 AM in Mobile, and can also be accessed on the iHeartRadio app. Live streaming for each game of the contest will also be available through the All-Access section of TXStateBobcats.com. Live stats for every Jaguar baseball game are available at USAJaguars.com, and in-game updates are provided through the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball (@SouthALBaseball).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).