Bobcats Plow Through Cardinals Once Again, Reach SLC Title Game

In another after-midnight game against the Lamar Cardinals, the Texas State Bobcat Baseball team kept the hits coming and the coffee brewing en route to knocking out the Cardinals in round 2, 13-2 in a ten-run-rule victory.

Coming into game three of the tournament the Cats looked to stay in the winners bracket, as they would only need to beat Lamar one more time to head into the SLC Championship game. The Cardinals, on the other hand, came into their third game in 24 hours needing two straight victories over Texas State to make the championship game. One of those previous games was Thursday night's 10-1 Bobcat rout of the Cardinals which lasted past midnight, just like this one. You can almost say the advantage was surely with the Cats because Lamar had a depleted pitching staff and a tired line-up.

The game started off right for Texas State as they put their first four batters on base and knocked in one run in the bottom of the first. After a pitching change by the Cardinals in the first inning, Brian Needham came into the game and got the next three batters to leave three guys on the bases to end the inning. It was a big disappointment for the Cats since they had the bases loaded when Needham came into the game with the bases loaded and no outs.

But the Bobcats wouldn't waste any time scoring as they proceeded to put up 6 runs in 11 at bats in the bottom of the 2nd inning. It all started with a Kyle Kubitza walk and by the end of the inning, Bret Atwood, Paul Goldschmidt, Spenser Dennis, Ben Theriot and Kyle Livingstone recorded RBIs. The Cats kept a dominant 7-0 lead until the 5th inning when the Cardinals brought in one run off of the Bobcats' starting pitcher Zach Tritz, who pitched 6.1 successful innings.

One thing Assistant Coach Geremy Fikaj said the best thing for this Texas State team is the dominance from the starting pitchers throughout the tournament. Considering Kane Holbrooks' outing in 7.0 innings, Brian Borski's effort in 6.1 innings and now Zach Tritz's impressive performance in 6.1 innings (and don't forget Brundridge and Loftin in relief), it can be said that the pitching staff has really cranked it up a notch in the past few games.

With the game pretty much out of reach, the Cardinals put one more run on in the top of the 7th and the Bobcats put two on themselves as the score came close to reaching the ten-run-rule mark at 9-2. However, SLC Freshman of the Year pitcher for Lamar Eric Harrington came in and put the clamps down on the Bobcat offense...at least temporarily. While Bobcat fans were probably expecting another 20 minutes before the game would end as Harrington quickly racked up 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, Jason Martinson and Tyler Sibley suddenly got on the bases off of walks. Then came up Bret Atwood, who has been taking sacrifices all tournament long with 5 sac bunts throughout the 3 games. Atwood this time was given the swing away signal and took the first good pitch he was given over the right center field wall for his first career home run of his two year career as a Bobcat. The players rounded the bases cheering and the rest of the team greeted Atwood at the plate for a walk off ten-run-ruled victory.

The game marked Texas State's third win of the tournament and improves their overall record to a mind-blowing 41-14. In the tournament, every game has been close, except for the Bobcats' games. The sluggers from San Marcos won game one 9-2, game two 10-1 and now game three 13-2. However, the team now has their sights set on their toughest test yet as they will face rival Sam Houston State in the Championship game on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Sam Houston was the only squad to win a regular season series against the Bobcats this season, and has won the last two SLC Tournament titles. If Texas State can beat the Bearkats and win the Championship game, voters on the NCAA selection committee would have to consider the Bobcats as a legitimate #2 seed possibility in a regional tournament. You can catch the SLC Championship game starting with the pre-game at 5:30 p.m. on 89.9 KTSW as well as ktsw.net and txstatebobcats.com

- James McNeal and Dalton Sweat, KTSW Sports Staff Writers