Carson Smith picked up right where he left off from his last outing as he tossed a shortened, seven inning complete game shutout Friday evening. The mercy rule came into effect after the Bobcats notched their tenth run in the top of the seventh making it 10-0, which is where the score remained upon its abrupt ending. The Bobcats improved their SLC record to 16-6 and remain in sole possession of first place by 2 games; meanwhile the Roadrunners fell to 5-17 in the conference and have dropped 11 of their last 13 games, which in turn means that Head Coach Sherman Corbitt and the Roadrunners need a victory in just about every single remaining game on the schedule in order to play in the Southland Conference Tournament. The 10-0 victory marks the second straight complete game for Carson Smith and the ninth win on Friday games this 2010 season, upping that mark to 9-2. The Bobcat offense equally did it's part scoring in every frame except for the first, and put up a 4 spot in the second inning that set the tone for the entire night. Kyle Livingstone and Jeff McVaney each belted a home run to highlight the offensive attack, while Bret Atwood and Laurn Randell each collected two hits of their own.
Smith worked a quick first two innings and got a long rest in the bottom of the second inning as he watched his offense put up four runs, highlighted by the first pitch of the inning as Jeff McVaney took UTSA lefty starter Casey Selsor's fastball off of the net in left field marking his sixth homerun and breaking the 0-0 tie. Daniel Neumann, Laurn Randell, and Bret Atwood each contributed an RBI single in the inning and gave Smith an early comfortable lead to work with. With two outs in the fourth inning, Bret Atwood reached on a bunt single which then was followed by a 2-run blast off of the bat of Kyle Livingstone (his 6th) stretching the Bobcat lead to 7-0 eventually chasing Selsor out of the ballgame.
Smith's performance on the mound was one of the most dominating thus far this season notching seven strikeouts and only rendering two Roadrunner hits; each of which failed to leave the infield. The Roadrunner hitters only worked a full count one time throughout the whole g ame and failed to reach third base as well. His fastball cut under the right handed hitters hands beautifully all night, and his slider covered the plate the entire night (even more so than it usually does). It is safe to say the Sophomore has come out of his shell completely and will be extremely intriguing to watch as the season starts to creep toward the dog days and the hunt for the postseason
Game two is set for 2:00 tomorrow at Bobcat Field in San Marcos, as each game for both teams start to become far more meaningful. The victory improves the overall record of the Bobcats to 26-14, and also marks the third time that the Bobcats have won by run-rule this year over a conference opponent. Stay plugged in as the Bobcats are striving toward their third straight regular season Southland Conference Title and third straight regional appearance. Tune in to 89.9 KTSW FM at 1:45 for pregame and eventually game 2 of the I-35 rivalry.
Weston Warner, KTSW Sports Staff Writer
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