Skyler Valentine was Texas State baseball’s hero on Tuesday as he drove in the game-winning run in walk-off fashion to beat the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns 6-7 for the third time in school history.
Texas State was up 1-3 early thanks to back-to-back home runs from Will Hollis and John Wurthrich.
University of Texas outfielders robbed both John Wurthrich and Travon Benton of Texas State at the warning track to keep the game within two, while Texas State’s infield pulled off an impressive 5-4-3 double play.
Texas State’s starting pitcher Garrett Herrnann threw 91 pitches in just the first four innings, causing head coach Ty Harrington to go to his bullpen early. Harrington said he leaned on his bullpen throughout this game.
“They had unreal long at-bats against ‘Herm’,” Harrington said. “We planned to run as many guys out there as we needed.”
The bullpen proved efficient for a moment before UT was able to open up the flood gates against Anthony Pagano and Brent Hebert scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to go up 6-3.
The Bobcats showed their resilience with a four-run ninth inning. The comeback was spearheaded by a Will Hollis two-run blast, Hollis’ second home run of the evening making the score 6-5 in Texas’ favor.
The Bobcats were able to load the bases for Skyler Valentine who delivered a two-RBI single up in the gap for Texas State’s second walk-off victory in a row.
Harrington said the win meant a lot to his coaching staff, team and University.
“Our kids are incredibly excited,” Harrington said. “I’m sure our university is fired up about it, it’s a big win for us no doubt.”
Earning the win was relief pitcher Zachery Leigh who rendered one inning of work with no hits, runs or walks. Leigh was also able to strike out one of the four batters he faced.
Texas State baseball looks to ride this high into its three-game series against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette this weekend. The series starts Friday 6:30 p.m. in Lafayette, LA.