The Texas State Bobcats (9-13 overall, 0-3 Sun Belt) defeated the University of Oklahoma Sooners (12-8) 5-2 on March 24.
With the victory, Texas State snaps its three-game losing streak and ends the Sooners six-game winning streak.
Both teams went scoreless for the first three innings. Sophomore pitcher Zeke Wood threw back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the first inning.
Texas State got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning as graduate catcher Bryce Bonner completed an RBI triple. The play allowed for another RBI immediately after from senior infielder Cole Coffey to go up 2-0.
In the fifth inning, the Sooners got their first score as redshirt freshman outfielder Kendall Pettis scored off of an RBI single from freshman catcher Jimmy Crooks.
In the bottom of the inning sophomore infielder and outfielder Jose Gonzalez hit his second home run of the season to extend Texas State’s lead 3-1.
“I kind of had the approach to try to hit it that way, and I just got the right pitch and thankfully I was able to put my barrel on it and it felt very good coming off of the bat,” Gonzalez says.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning. In the middle of the seventh inning, junior infielder Justin Thompson hit a two-run home run out of the park to put the Bobcats up 5-1.
Junior right-handed pitcher Trevis Sundgren completed his first strikeout of the night at the top of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded, Sundgren forced a pop-up to end the frame and head into the bottom of the eighth.
Into the ninth, an RBI triple by Sooners’ junior infielder Tyler Hardman allowed a run for Pettis that cut the score to 5-2 but the game ended on a pop-up shot.
Leading players in the game for the Sooners were Pettis, Hardman and Crooks. Pettis led the team with two runs and two hits. Hardman ended the game with two hits and one RBI and Crooks followed with one hit and one RBI.
Thompson led the team with two RBI, two hits and one home run. Gonzalez ended the game with one home run and one RBI. Bonner and Coffey each had one RBI.
Wood got the win as he pitched five innings with four strikeouts and allowed one run. Head Coach Steven Trout was impressed by his play against a Big 12 opponent.
“I was proud of how [Wood] came out with mixed speeds and that’s the Zeke Wood we were expecting,” Trout says. “Really good fastballs and good changeup and that was fun.”
Despite the team’s record still being under .500, Trout believes a consistent mentality will allow them to turn the tide around.
“To me, it’s not about who’s in the other dugout,” Trout says. “We’ve got to show up if it’s a mid-week game if it’s a weekend game with the same energy and same effort no matter what. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’ve got to play good baseball, bring the effort and you’re not playing the game, you’re playing the opponent. For us, we have to get back to doing that…if we play good baseball we’re going to win baseball games.”
Next up for the Bobcats is a three-game series against the University of Louisiana at Monroe from March 26-28 at Bobcat Ballpark.