Texas State traveled to Houston on Tuesday to take on the Rice Owls. The 3pm scheduled game was a make-up from February 23rd, a date that was interrupted by wintery mixes. The Bobcats came into the game hoping to extend their recent winning streak to 5, but instead found themselves at the unfortunate end of a 16-2 blowout.
Rice (27-16) used their explosive bats to get ahead early, and stay ahead throughout. Jeremy Rathjen got it going for the Owls, crushing a Brian Borski fastball over the left field wall in his first at bat.
The 1-0 lead quickly swelled to 4-0 after Rice pulled together a slew of hits in the 2nd inning. Borski was relieved after two innings, however through the final 7 innings, the Bobcats emptied their bullpin and finished the game having used a total of 8 pitchers. With every Bobcat reliever that was tossed into the game, the Owls looked as if they were taking batting practice, as they amassed a total of 17 hits and scored at least one run in every single inning except the 3rd.
Although almost everyone was involved in the offensive outburst for the Owls, there were a few that stood out. Rick Hague went 5-6 at the plate with 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Michael Ratterree went 2-3 with 3 RBI’s and Michael Fuda went 3-4 with 3 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. Hague and Ratterree each joined the HR parade, while Fuda was actually a Homerun away from the cycle.
Jared Rogers was the starter on the mound for the Owls and through 5 innings, gave up no runs on only 3 hits. Rogers (5-1) was relieved in the 6th inning, but by then the ‘Cats were already losing 12-0.
For the Bobcats, Jason Martinson and Kyle Kubitza each had 2 hits. Kubitza also recorded an RBI. Bret Atwood, Clint vest, and Tyler Sibley were the only other ‘Cats to manage a hit.
Brian Borski (1-7) was tagged with the loss, and as mentioned before, his relievers weren’t much help. The 7 pitchers who were called from the pin allowed a total of 12 runs on 14 hits.
Bullpin issues are definitely a concern as the season comes to a close, but other factors could have played into the abysmal loss. The opportunity to play loose was undeniably available for the Owls, however no excuses will be enough to explain the 14 run loss.
The Bobcats (28-15) will travel to take on McNeese State this weekend. The Bobcats seem to do better in SLC games as is, as they still sit atop the Conference, sporting an 18-6 conference record. Game 1 of the series is scheduled for 6:30pm on Friday.
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