With another Saturday afternoon win under their belts, Texas State baseball remains the Southland team to beat after a 12-11 victory over Stephen F. Austin. Hit after hit, the Bobcats came out on top for the second day in a row, scoring in all but three innings to stay in first place.
Lee Colon got the weekend start against the Lumberjacks, a new role for the senior, one that he traded his weekday starting duties over to junior right hander Mitchell Pitts, which proved to be a smart decision so far.
In the top of the first, Lumberjack all-star Bryson Myles came out swinging with a groundball single to left centerfield. Myles is easily one of the best players in the Southland Conference, and is also the NCAA leader in stolen bases, showing his wheels by advancing to second and third in the mere blink of an eye. He would come home to score on a base hit, but the hot Texas State bats made this lead short-lived.
The Bobcats drove in three runs in the bottom of the first with a Kyle Kubitza RBI double and RBI singles from Ory Kalenkoskey and Jeff McVaney to give Texas State a 3-1 lead.
Junior infielder Tyler Sibley extended his impressive hitting streak to 29 games with an RBI single back up the middle to tie the game in the fourth inning, and in the fifth, sophomore outfielder Corey Falvey blasted a 2-0 pitch over the left-field fence for his first home run on the season to give Texas State a 10-8 lead.
An unearned run in a wild seventh inning got SFA closer, but Texas State was able to maintain a 10-9 edge after an exciting run down got the ‘Cats out of a potentially game-blowing situation. With two runners on, senior reliever Joseph Dvorsky snared a come-backer and fired home to start the rundown, eventually getting one out between third and home. Senior centerfielder Bret Atwood came in from his position to apply the tag on the second runner at second base to end the inning.
A pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth gave the Bobcats some insurance, but the Lumberjacks brought it closer with two runs in the top of the ninth. Junior Dylan Adamek came in for Dvorsky to shut the ‘Jax down in the end, securing his first save of the season and the 12-11 win.
Another strong batter for the Bobcats was Catcher Andrew Stumph, who bumped his meek .212 batting average to .280 with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, also driving in two runs.
The win gives Texas State a 10-1 Southland Conference record and an overall mark of 19-9. Catch the series finale tomorrow on TxStateBobcats.com with the first pitch set for 1:00 PM.
Tyler Thomason, KTSW Sports
No comments:
Post a Comment