Baseball is a game of myriad statistics. You have your fan-friendly batting averages and earned run averages, and you also have your slightly more obscure slugging percentages and fielding percentages. One stat that is usually reserved for another sport, basketball, is the number of lead changes in a given game, but given Texas State's 11-10 victory at UTSA on Sunday, it doesn't seem completely out of line to use this stat to show just how wild the game was. Three different lead changes occurred in Sunday's contest, as the 'Cats came from four runs down in two different occasions to sweep UTSA for the first time since 1997.
Any of the season-high 444 fans in attendance at Roadrunner Field knew that this wasn't going to be your average Sunday afternoon baseball game from the start, as Kyle Livingstone smashed the third pitch of the game over the right field wall to put the 'Cats up 1-0. The red-faced man who gave up the early bomb was UTSA starter Ryan Proudfoot, and his frustration from the homer may have fueled a fire that helped him shut down the Bobcats for the rest of the first and second innings. UTSA started out the bottom of the 2nd with a leadoff double, and that's when the Sunday starter frustrations started to send the game's complexion in an entirely different direction.
The last time a Sunday starting pitcher had won a game for Texas State was on April 11, when Lee Colon shut down a struggling Central Arkansas team in an 11-4 victory. Since then, Texas State had suffered a 9-6 road defeat at Southeastern Louisiana and a humiliating 8-0 shutout the week before in San Marcos at the hands of Northwestern State. In what was likely an experiment concocted by Bobcat head coach Ty Harrington to bring some stability to Sunday's rotation, Mitchell Pitts took the start over mainstays Brian Borski and Lee Colon. Pitts got out of the bottom 1st unscathed, giving up only one hit. It also seemed like he might be able to squeeze his way out of the bottom 2nd as well, as UTSA designated hitter Brett Aguilar lined into a 4-3 double play. However, an inspired and vengeful 'Runner team took out the weekend's frustrations on Pitts, staging a two-out rally that would make the Bobcat hitters proud. UTSA managed five straight hits and brought in five runs, chasing out Pitts and bringing in the usual Sunday starter, Lee Colon. Colon was able to get power hitter Ryan Rummel to foul out, but San Antonio had already done the damage in jumping out to a 5-1 lead.
Seeing that it was still early, and that Texas State was the master of late-inning comebacks in Southland play, the 100-150 Bobcat fans in attendance didn't seem nervous at the start of the third inning. Clint Vest got on with a walk and Livingstone advanced him to third on a double. Bret Atwood then brought home Vest on the grounder, but that would be all she wrote for the top of the third. Lee Colon looked a tad shaky in the bottom 3rd, letting two runners on, but he was able to preserve the 5-2 Bobcat deficit and get out of the inning. In the top of the 4th, the proverbial pendulum of momentum would swing back in the Bobcats' direction again.
Sunday's game featured no clouds and an extremely bright sun, and that harsh glare coming from millions of miles away caused all sorts of havoc in the Bird Bath. Clint Vest at second and Jason Martinson at shortstop would have major issues with misjudging routine fly balls, but losing the ball in the sun would dearly cost UTSA in the fourth. Andrew Stumph got the 'Cat bats going again with a leadoff single and advanced to second from a Shaun Garcia sacrifice bunt. Then, Daniel Neumann popped up to right to the Roadrunners' Tyler Carpenter, who was camping under what looked to be a sure third out. Carpenter, however, ended up misjudging the ball's trajectory because of the sun's glare, and dropped the ball, scoring Stumph. Vest then knocked home Neumann from second, bringing the score to 5-4. Even though Texas State couldn't come through with a lead in the top 4th, it seemed like the big 'ol Mo was back in the Bobcats' dugout once again.
However, some games are just too wild to start making any assumptions based on momentum.
The bottom of the 4th started with another UTSA leadoff double, which is never a good sign for any pitching staff. Lee Colon saw his bread and butter pitch, the breaking ball, get away from him in a couple of ways. First of all, he couldn't find the strike zone to save his life, and at some points, he couldn't even get the ball across the plate. However, what was much worse was when he did find the strike zone, he give some tasty pitchest for the UTSA batters to smash, and smash they did. The 'Runners reeled off five hits and three more runs to match their largest lead put up in the 2nd inning, this time putting the score at 8-4. Now it's the top of the 5th, and UTSA looks to be sitting pretty, correct?
Not so fast. Go ahead and swing that pendulum of momentum again.
Jason Martinson and Jeff McVaney got things started in the fifth with a couple of one-out singles. Then, Texas State's home run leader Kyle Kubitza came to the plate, and absolutely crushed one....foul. However, just as those wearing orange and blue were breathing sighs of relief, Kubitza got a meatball from Proudfoot, sat on it, and obliterated it. As the ball screamed over the left center field wall, fans from both sides started shaking their heads and doctors at the Central Texas Medical Center may have started preparing some extra beds for some very loyal, nervous baseball fans. However, Fielding Pittman, in relief for Colon, calmed things down in the bottom of the 5th with a three up, three down inning to keep the score at 8-7, UTSA. The calm wouldn't last for long.
Texas State brought home Clint Vest on a Martinson sacrifice fly to tie things up in the top of the 6th. UTSA then got 2 runners on base against Bobcat pitcher/DH Jeff McVaney, but McVaney was able to get Brett Aguilar to fly out to left after a tense mound visit from pitching coach Derek Matlock. Fans were then treated to a top of the seventh inning that, frankly, had a little bit of everything.
Kyle Kubitza got things going with a leadoff single, and he then advanced to second on a misguided throwing error by UTSA relief pitcher D.D. Towler that got past first. Andrew Stumph came in and crushed a home run ball to left field, sending home Kubitza and giving Texas State their second lead of the day, 10-8. Laurn Randell then came in to pinch hit for Shaun Garcia; Randell had not been given the start in right field on the day, presumably because of some recent struggles at the plate. Randell sat on one and crushed it to right for a double and advanced to third on a Neumann flyout. Clint Vest, already perfect on the day in terms of getting on base, got a Texas Leaguer to drop into right to score Randell. Livingstone then advanced him on a single of his own. Then, both runners advanced to second and third on a rare balk from Towler. It seemed like the 'Cats were ready to put their throats on the 'Runners' throats at that point, but just like every other point in the game, the momentum would swing back again. Atwood popped out and Martinson grounded out to short, stranding two runners in scoring position. From that point on, the 'Cat bats would fall completely silent.
The bottom of the seventh didn't give Garrett Carruth much of an issue, and it looked like the bottom of the eighth wouldn't either as he got two straight outs to start his second inning of work. However, UTSA would again reel off another two out rally as they loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Carruth's arm seemed to start to give out as his pitches drifted farther and farther away from the strike zone, but that not the most disastrous occurrence of the inning, by far. With the bases juiced, Carruth got Michael Rockett to pop up to second for Clint Vest to make the routine play. The only problem? The play didn't end up being routine. Vest had already misjudged two pop-ups and let them drop on the day because of the sun, and he had barely caught another pop-up as he fell down on his rear end to make the catch. The usually solid second baseman, in for the injured Tyler Sibley, started backpedaling and fell down as he watched the baseball drop three feet to his right. Two Roadrunners scored, and we were back to a nail-biting 11-10 score.
Texas State was unable to get anything going in the top of the 9th, and UTSA got another lead-off single to start the bottom of the 9th. The intimidating 6'5" Carson Smith then went to work and got two outs, but Tyler Carpenter also got to third in the process. Strolling up to the plate was UTSA star hitter Ryan Rummel, a preseason Southland Conference selection who was batting over .360 on the year. As of that point, he had been a shocking 0 of 5 on the day, making him the only Roadrunner without a hit. The law of averages certainly dictated that Rummel would bring home Carpenter from third and tie it up, but Carson Smith didn't care about averages. Smith worked the count to 2-2, and threw a nasty breaking ball on the inside. Rummel bit and swung with all his might--and came up with air. Game over, sweep completed, and 440 people and change re-learned how to breathe again.
Another gritty comeback win brings Texas State's record to 28-14 and 18-6 in the SLC, keeping them 1.5 games ahead of SFA in the conference standings. UTSA, eliminated from winning the regular season, saw their chances of making the postseason as the SLC's eighth and final team in the conference tournament fade further with the loss. A 14-27, 5-19 SLC record certainly won't help their cause. Texas State, currently ranked 30th in some polls, will look to improve their overall NCAA tournament resume further as they make up March 3rd's rainout at Rice on Tuesday in Houston. First pitch will start at 3 pm, you can listen to KTSW 89.9 FM's pregame coverage starting at 2:45 PM.
Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director
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