Texas State Baseball Coos Owls Back to Roost with 4-1 Win.

Overbearing. Dominant. Completely in control. The Owls' wings were clipped from the first inning in Tuesday night's 4-1 win over No. 2 Rice by the Texas State baseball club, keeping the Bobcats among the Top-30 NCAA rankings.
In the past, some fans complained that head coach Ty Harrington didn't take non-conference games seriously, as if they were throw away games to get some experience under the belts of non-starters. When the Bobcats clearly dominated, thanks to coaching efforts by Harrington -- the 10-year vet was in the crew chief's face more than twice last night -- it became clear that this was more than "just" a non-conference road game.

Reckling Park near downtown Houston happily hosted two quick strikeouts from freshman starter Andrew Banak in the Navy and White. But with two outs, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt took a curve ball off of his front shoulder to reach first base, and was sent rumbling home by DH Keith Prestridge's double to right. Spenser Dennis continued the rally with his usual first-pitch smash up the middle, this time nearly taking Banak's knee caps with it and earning his only RBI on the day. With a 2-0 lead, catcher Ben Theriot followed in suit with a line shot to the same spot, just past a flinching Banak, making the opposition's call to the bullpen easier. Veteran Owls coach Wayne Graham called for Mark Haynes, and the right handed junior induced a quick ground out to end the inning. Banak took the loss and is 1-1 for the year.

Garret Carruth was wild on the mound to start the home half of the first, allowing the Owls to rally with a walk, a double to the wall and a hit batsman. With the bases loaded, the junior transfer got a fly out and a ground out to get out of it, and he settled in nicely for the next five, holding the 2003 NCAA champs to seven hits in six innings. Carruth drops his ERA to 4.58 on the season in his fourth win. Rice Owl hitters averaged around seven runs per game coming into Tuesday's match up, hitting .313 as a team. After Carruth ran through its lineup, the 13-time Conference USA champs hit .218 on the evening, leaving eight runners stranded. The young hurler spun most of the Owls into the ground by mixing his pitches all over the strike zone. And despite getting behind in most of the counts with the batters he faced, Carruth was most impressive with his ability to execute the right pitch at the right time to force a ground out or fly out when needed. Every once in a while, the G-man would sweep an enormous slider toward the outside edge of the plate, but it moved so much that for the most part it swept completely in front of the plate. Oh, and not to mention that unhittable inside change up. Owl fans didn't appreciate all the called strikes. Carruth evaded a big jam in the sixth with two runners on with a 1-3 double play, and the entire Bobcat bench cleared for a celebratory greeting along the third base line, led by assistant coach Derek Matlock. Chest bumps and fist pumps abounded. This was now a different game.

Diego Seastrunk, the DH during the game and usually a catcher/infielder, came in for 1 and 2/3 innings of work, striking out two in his own response to the Bobcat message. His timing was perfect, throwing the Bobcats' timing completely out of whack. Seastrunk touched the low 90-mph mark with his fast ball, seemingly his only pitch for the first inning of work. Even with the heat, he was more of a quarterback than a pitcher; it was more an issue of throwing overpowering fastballs than actual pitching. He mixed in a few good breaking pitches and the Bobcats only managed one hit and no runs. Rice's big hitter, cleanup third baseman Anthony Rendón, was the usual spark for the offense, going 2-for-3 with a K. Most of the rest of the lineup was unable to produce enough to drive him in, leaving him stranded two times out of the team's eight. Michael Fuda, starting left fielder, went 2-for-4 and was driven in by Ryan Lewis in the fourth for the only Rice RBI of the night. The fifth inning would prove to be the icing on the cake when the heart of the Bobcat order in Prestridge, Dennis and Theriot singled in order, with The Riot credited with the third RBI on the day. Jason Martinson drew a walk to expand the lead to 4-1.

Coach Graham's most impressive arm out of the 'pen was Jordan Rogers, who pitched 2/3 of an inning, giving up a hit. Rogers' outstanding pickoff move nearly caught Goldschmidt snoozing at second base twice, and his curve ball was very demonstrative, knocking even the best Bobcat hitters on their laurels. Dennis went 3-for-5 with three singles, an RBI and a strike out. When Dennis and Rogers faced off, the Owl reliever made him look silly, throwing his balance off completely with several defensive swings without any of the usual Spartan-like strength Bobcat fans are used to. Not to be outdone, Tyler Brundridge came in to relieve Carruth after that sixth inning jam. Big B tossed three perfect innings for the save, striking out three. Usually Brundridge will go no more than two innings, but as effective as he was, the call to keep him in for another round was more than reasonable. Brundridge got the strike out looking on the final batter of the game for the 4-1 Bobcat win.

With the W, Texas State's RPI climbs toward the .580 mark, and the Bobcats are ranked 28th in the nation. Should the Bobcats end the season on a winning note, there is a high likelihood that the 'Cats will earn an at-large bid into an NCAA Regional, of course in an effort to reach the College World Series. This win sent the Bobcats home happy and confident. Phone calls to friends and family happily boasted the win over Rice, mostly because of what beating a prominent Rice team means. In 2007, freshman outfielder Laurn Randall won the home opener at Bobcat Field against then No. 1 Rice with a walk-off single in the ninth. Tuesday's win, with so much more on the line, and with a better 2009 team at that, is special. And with years of CWS experience in coach Ty Harrington, having played and coached for University of Texas baseball legend Cliff Gustafson in those seasons, there is much promise for a budding program on its way up. This ball club is an offensive freak show, but leaving runners on base is a bit of a concern for many fans. In this match-up, eleven were left standing. But realize that with all the balls spraying around the yard, a team is bound to leave a few guys scratching their heads.

The Bobcats improve their record in 2009 to 34-12 overall, still 20-6 in Southland competition. Texas State holds a 2 and 1/2 game lead over Southeastern Louisiana, 3 and 1/2 games over UT-Arlington. UTA beat No. 17 University of Oklahoma 8-5 on Tuesday as well, and senior Andrew Kainer set the new all-time SLC consecutive games hit streak mark at 35 games on Sunday. The Bobcats travel to Clay Gould Ballpark to take on the Mavs to close the season next week, but before that, coach Harrington and his boys host Nicholls State in San Marcos. Game one with the 8-19 Colonels opens up Wed., May 8 at 6:30 p.m. with live play-by-play coverage on 89.9 FM KTSW and also on TxStateBobcats.com.

Mason Robinson, KTSW Sports Staff Writer