Though they fought tooth and nail through their final at-bats, Bobcat baseball (36-23, 17-13 Sun Belt Conference) missed its chance at making the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tournament this year.
After putting together yet another winning season in regular season play, Texas State entered the Sun Belt Baseball Championship with hopes of claiming its final needed wins of the season. However, the team’s efforts fell short by a small margin as they officially placed fifth in the Sun Belt Conference after losing two games in a span of three days.
Overall, the Bobcats achieved a winning percentage of .610 on the season across all contests, and .567 in the Sun Belt. Though a national championship run will not be made this season, the Bobcats see it as a success. Texas State Head Coach Steven Trout said he is proud of what his team has been able to accomplish regardless of their postseason fate.
“It’s been a good year, I think,” Trout said. “I think any time you can win 35 games in the regular season, that’s a lot of wins.” 
The overall production of the young Texas State team has proven its ability time and time again throughout the year. With only eight seniors on the team and just three of them in starting positions, the Bobcats were still able to outscore their opponents regularly, posting 399 cumulative runs compared to their opponents’ 368. 
Graduated outfielder Jose Gonzalez said trust within the team’s culture is an imperative factor that allowed the team to operate at the high efficiency it was capable of.
“I think that culture is built already,” Gonzalez said. “We trust Coach Trout, we trust our bullpen, [and] the bullpen trusts the hitters.”
Gonzalez said there is immense talent on the roster, and believes that, when at their best, the Bobcats will be able to achieve great feats.
“I think what we’ve done this season is really special because we haven’t had our best every game,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, it just shows you how much talent, like raw talent is on this team.”
Looking ahead, Texas State has showcased its young talent at different points during the 2023 season, and the future of the program appears bright. True freshmen such as infielder Chase Mora and catcher Rashawn Galloway have proven to be key components of the team, charting batting averages of .316 and .290, respectively. 
With many seniors moving on, the likes of these young position players will have shoes to fill, which they have proven to be capable of.
Texas State’s pitching staff also revealed its ability to execute this year, posting a cumulative 1.54 WHIP on the season. With five senior pitchers exiting the roster, nine juniors will look to take the reins and become leaders, potentially returning to throw for the Bobcats in the 2024 season. 
Among those who posted notable numbers in the stat-book is junior pitcher Peyton Zabel who threw 31.1 innings and struck out 30 batters this spring. Trout said in order to fulfill their potential, the Bobcats just need to find positive consistency in their roster.
“I think there’s times when we were consistent, both good and bad,” Trout said. “That was the goal we talked about all the time, was trying to be more consistent on the positive side of things.”
As the 2023 season comes to an end, many Bobcat seniors said goodbye to their Texas State uniforms, and contemplated the growth that the baseball program has provided them with. 
Gonzalez reflected on what the culture of Texas State baseball taught him. He said through baseball he became a leader, and added that he will carry the lessons he learned while playing baseball as a Bobcat for the rest of his days.
“I’ve seen leaders and then I became a leader, not even like if, I wanted to or not. I was a leader on the team,” Gonzalez said. “That’s a quality that I’ll carry for the rest of my life and I’ll be able to, you know, use it in many different ways.”
The Bobcats now enter the off-season with a chip on their shoulder and an ambition for improvement, fulfillment and success. With the baseball program steadily on the rise under Trout, it will surely continue trusting the process and taking the game one pitch at a time.