Texas State baseball maintains the top spot in the Southland Conference standings despite dropping its first series of the season on the road against No. 23 Southeastern Louisiana and committing eleven errors this weekend in Hammond, Louisiana. The Bobcats stand 21-12 overall and 13-4 in the SLC.
Carson Smith took the ball in game one after a recent "promotion" to the Friday night starter spot and mowed smoothly over the SLU offense through three innings, striking out three hitters early. Smith found trouble in the fourth, walking Lions' short stop Justin Boudreaux on seven pitches and allowing the runner to take second base on an errant pick-off attempt. Designated hitter Joe Sparacino drove Boudreaux in from third after right fielder Cody Gougler moved the runner up on a single to left; Gougler would also score in the inning after second-sacker Brock Hebert knotched a single of his own. Hebert was a difficult out all weekend and Smith showed his frustration early while being knocked around. More trouble in the bottom of the fifth came as a walk, a hit by pitch and the first of 11 errors for Texas State led to three more runs and a 5-0 lead for the Lions.
The Bobcats did not score until the seventh when sophomore DH Jeff McVaney doubled to right center field on an 0-2 pitch. McVaney advanced to third on a wild pitch and came in to score the only Bobcat run of the night thanks to Tyler Sibley's single up the middle.
Knowing he'd need to stretch out his innings, and one of head coach Ty Harrington's best options to keep a 5-1 game close, Carson Smith continued to work into the eighth but only retired one that inning. Sophomore Covey Morrow relieved Smith, but with one pitch to Gougler, surrendered a single and prompted Harrington to pull the lefty for Mitchell Pitts, who was knocked around for 5 more runs.
McVaney proved to be the star of the 10-1 loss, hitting 3-for-4 and scoring one run. Smith took the loss and is 4-3 on the season. Starting pitcher Brandon Efferson pitched his first complete game this season for the Lions and earned the win.
Game two was arguably the wildest Southland game played in 2010, needing 11 innings to complete, but the Bobcats rallied for two runs in extras off the strength of (who else) Jeff McVaney and pure braun from senior right hander Garrett Carruth. Michael Russo pitched five and two-thirds in a shaky start, allowing 5 runs through the first two innings. Boudreaux set the crowd on fire with a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the first with nobody out and McVaney replied with a towering home run of his own over the left field wall the next inning to trim the lead 2-1. Amazingly though, Boudreaux repeated his earlier feat with another monstrous 2-run dinger to left, finishing the game with 5 RBI.
The see-saw battle continued to the third inning as short stop Jason Martinson drove in two runners with two outs in the third to carve the Lions' lead to one run. In the fifth inning, potential National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year candidate Josh Janway, who led the league in ERA at 1.93 in 5 saves, came in for long relief, an odd move by head coach Jay Antigues. Off of such a great Lion closer, the Bobcats poured on a huge five-run fifth inning to take the lead 8-5.
The aforementioned Hebert retaliated with a two out knock of his own in the bottom of the inning to drive in two but ended the inning in a rundown at second. In the Lions' sixth, with two outs, freshman third baseman Christian Gallegos committed a throwing error for Texas State to first to put a runner in scoring position, and big-hitting center fielder Cass Hargis tripled to right and eventually scored to regain the lead for SLU.
But the Bobcats snatched that lead right back in the seventh thanks to an RBI sac fly for freshman catcher Andrew Stumph. Another potential Stopper of the Year candidate, Garrett Carruth, took the mound in the eighth and exited the inning unscathed despite another error, this time by Martinson, setting up a dramatic ninth inning.
Carruth immediately give up a lead off home run to left fielder Jeff Harkensee. Carruth walked the next batter to begin the ninth and hot-hitting Joe Sparacino, who came into the series with a six-RBI performance against Alcorn State the week before, reached on a fielder's choice. The runner was eliminated at second and during the next at-bat, Stumph gunned down pinch runner Trey Martin attempting to steal second, who replaced Sparacino on the bags.
With the game tied into the eleventh, center fielder Bret Atwood singled on the first pitch, setting up the at-bat for McVaney. The Bobcat DH smashed a triple off the wall in right center field, scoring Atwood all the way from first and giving the Bobcats the lead 11-10. First baseman Kyle Livingstone drove McVaney in easily from third before heading to the bottom of the eleventh up 12-10.
A one out single to Jeff Harkensee gave pinch hitter Phillip Freeman a chance to hit, which he did thanks to a throwing error by Gallegos. WIth a runner on second, Carruth struck out Martin swinging with a full count, bringing none other than Brock Hebert back to the plate. Hebert popped a 1-2 pitch back to Carruth on one hop, and the Bobcat hurler made the stop with his face, taking a glance off the chin, recovering the play and under-handing a toss to first base for the third out to seal a dramatic victory, 12-10. With the win, Texas State guaranteed itself at least a one game lead in the conference after leaving Hammond.
After the play, blood poured from a three inch gash on Carruth's right cheek and he collapsed to the ground, asking for help from his trainers. As tough as the big guy is, he stood up almost immediately and shared fist punches and high fives with his teammates along the first base line while Hebert trotted back to the home dugout with his head down in defeat. Already dealing with a small case of poison ivy on his feet, Carruth's injury required only seven stitches and he was
in the dugout the next day for game three.
Lee Colon started game three on Sunday and was rocked in four-and-one-third innings with seven runs, but only four earned. Fielding Pittman replaced Colon on the mound in the fifth but three errors by the Bobcat infield led to three more runs for the Lions, making it a 7-0 game. Texas State made four errors Sunday afternoon, the same total from Friday night, totaling 11 for the weekend.
The Bobcat offense remained dormant into the sixth, finally putting up a four-spot to bring the game within reach, 4-7, but an RBI single in the bottom of the inning erased a Bobcat run from the previous rally to extend the SLU lead to 4.
A ninth run crossed the plate in the seventh, but the late innings became interesting for the visitors. Texas State pushed across a run in the eighth and ninth and at 9-6 with runners on the corners, McVaney stepped to the plate as the potential tying run. The hottest Bobcat hitter for the weekend swung at the first pitch and hit a two hopper to third, inducing the 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
A toss of his helmet to the ground represented the general disappointment for the entire team. Texas State had not dropped a Southland series all season, and in the biggest series of the year so far, loses two games to second place Southeastern Louisiana. Any tie-breaker situation now favors SLU should Texas State have an identical record come season's end.
Baseball returns to San Marcos Wednesday, Apr. 21 as the Baylor Bears come to town. The Bobcats are 2-5 against the Big 12 Conference this season with wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Baylor took wins from Texas State in February and early April, both in Waco, but it's the Bobcats' turn to host the Bears on Wednesday for a 6:30 first pitch. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:15 on 89.9 FM KTSW, ktsw.net and also on www.txstatebobcats.com with live updates on Twitter.com/Ktswsports.
Mason Robinson, KTSW Assistant Sports Director
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