Hungry to break the hex set by their I-35 neighbors, Texas State baseball team finally got a victory over the Baylor Bears this year by a score of 9-3 in San Marcos on Wednesday night. The Bears had beaten the Bobcats the previous two meetings earlier this year.
Things looked as if the 'Cats might fall into another deficit early, as BU got out to a fast start on Texas State's starting pitcher Mitchell Pitts. First inning jitters were clearly evident for Pitts at the start as he gave up a run in the very first inning on two hits and a walk. The sophomore from Highland Village had primarily been an late inning reliever for the 'Cats throughout the year, so seeing him as a starter may have raised a few eyebrows for those wearing both maroon and green. Bobcat head coach Ty Harrington seemed to be asking a lot of a reliever with a 6.39 ERA to start against a talented Baylor team, and some 'Cat fans may have been squirming in their seats after BU took their 1-0 lead. Making the situation even more tenuous was a walk issued to Cal Towey which loaded the bases with two outs. However, Pitts got Baylor's Landis Ware to ground to third, and the Bears stranded three runners.
Then, the Bobcats exploded.
Texas State plated 5 runs in the bottom of the first as the batting order went cycle. Laurn Randell started out the inning with a walk, and was eventually knocked home by a Jason Martinson single. Three more of those runs came via a base clearing double by Kyle Livingstone. Daniel Neumann then brought home Livingstone on a sac fly, and Randell, who started it all, fittingly ended the inning with a ground out. Pitts then settled down in the second inning, giving up no runs or no hits in a complete reversal of the first inning. He continued his dominating pitching performance for seven innings, giving up only four hits and one earned run.
Regarding other highlights than Pitts’ pitching, Kyle Kubitza put on a hitting clinic for the crowd and the Baylor Bears. He had two home run blasts in the game that gave the audience and both teams something to talk about. The sophomore third baseman ended the game going 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs. The Baylor Bears would end up using 6 pitchers in the game, as starting pitcher Crayton Bare was unable to find his way out of the first inning.
Cal Towey hit a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth for Baylor, but it was just too little too late as Texas State had previously held a 9-1 lead. The victory for the Bobcats tonight was a huge psychological boost even though it wasn’t a conference game for either team. It was so important tonight that the Bobcats bounce back after losing 2 out of 3 from Southeastern Louisiana this past weekend, especially against one of the two Big 12 teams (the other, sadly, being Texas) that seemed to hold a mental hex over them. It was also a good win for the 'Cats RPI rating as well, which at 46th as of boydsworld.com on Wednesday morning. That number will obviously go up with this win, and with that increase in ranking may also bring an increase in the possible chance of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in case Texas State does not win the Southland Conference Tournament.
However, the team can't afford to look ahead that far, as have a tough conference matchup this weekend against Northwestern State. The Demons currently sit 2nd in the Southland Conference and only a half game behind Texas State in the standings. All three games will take place in San Marcos at 6:30 PM on Friday, 2:00 PM on Saturday, and 1:00 PM on Sunday. Friday and Sunday's game will be aired exclusively on Stretch Internet at www.txstatebobcats.com, while Saturday's game will be aired on 89.9 KTSW and www.ktsw.net. Pregame coverage for each contest will start at 15 minutes before the first pitch.
Jason Britsch, KTSW Sports Staff Writer
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