No. 15 Texas State Baseball (41-11, 23-4 Sun Belt) swept Sun Belt Conference foe, the University of Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (30-20, 17-10 Sun Belt), three games to none at Bobcat Ballpark this weekend.
With the sweep over Louisiana, the Bobcats clinch a share of the regular-season Sun Belt Conference title and are only one win away from winning the conference championship outright. The win on Sunday also tied the program record of 41 wins in a season.
Friday, the maroon and gold struck first, plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior starting pitcher Zeke Wood (6-1, 3.43 ERA) picked up the win and started the game by throwing five scoreless innings before giving up four runs in the top of the sixth. Holding onto a one-run lead, the Bobcats plated two insurance runs with home runs in the bottom of the sixth and eighth innings by senior shortstop Dalton Shuffield to win the first game of the weekend against the Ragin’ Cajuns, 7-5.
Saturday, on senior day, the Bobcats held a lead through four innings of play until the Ragin’ Cajuns plated two runs to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning. The Louisiana lead would hold until the bottom of the eighth when senior outfielder John Wuthrich homered to left-center field to bring himself as well as senior designated hitter Wesley Faison around to take the game-winning, 6-4, lead. Sophomore pitcher Cameron Bush, who came in and pitched two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings, picked up the win as the Bobcats clinched the series over the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Sunday, the Bobcats came out hot, scoring nine runs in the first three innings. Although the Ragin’ Cajuns scored the first two runs of the game, the Bobcats would be able to hold onto a lead until the end. In the top of the eighth, junior right-handed pitcher Triston Dixon gave up five runs that cut the Bobcat lead to two. For the final four outs, senior closing pitcher Tristan Stivors came in to save the win for the Bobcats, 11-9, coming away with their sixth Sun Belt Conference series sweep.
Head Coach Steven Trout and his 2022 Bobcat squad are on pace to do something that no Bobcat baseball team has ever done: surpass 41 wins in a season. He knows his squad is going to keep fighting through the last series as well as the post-season to achieve their championship goals.
“There’s been some unbelievable teams come through this program,” Trout said. “This team is [obviously] about to be one of the best … if you ask them, they’re still very hungry, they’re not satisfied by just setting records. They want to do something we’ve never done before.”
With their game against Houston Baptist on Tuesday being canceled, the Bobcats will hit the road next weekend to take on Georgia State in their final Sun Belt Conference weekend series of the season.