Baseball season in San Marcos has officially arrived, and the Bobcats made sure they were quick to remind everyone of the nickname that they have brought upon the town: Slam Marcos.
Texas State baseball (1-0) started the season Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark with game one of three against Youngstown State University (0-1). The pitching staff dealt, and the line-up mashed en route to a 20-2 opening-day victory.
The Bobcat bats were red-hot from the opening pitch. Freshman outfielder Ryne Farber started the hit party with a single into right field— his first career base hit as a Bobcat. All nine starters for Head Coach Steven Trout collected at least one hit in the ball game.
The Bobcats scored seven runs in the first inning. An inning highlighted by back-to-back homers from junior infielder Aaron Lugo and junior catcher Ian Collier. The offense didn’t slow down in the second inning as the Bobcats hung seven more runs.
The big hit in the second came from senior utility Cade Manning as he launched a homer to I-35 for a grand slam. The Bobcats hit a total of five homers on the night.
“They were never satisfied,” Trout said. “This was about as perfect of a night as you can have as far as offense goes.”
On the other side of the ball, redshirt junior Austin Eaton made his first start in a Bobcat uniform and did precisely what he was brought here to do: win.
Eaton earned the Friday night win after throwing four shutout innings and only surrendering one hit. In total, the Bobcats ran six pitchers out on the mound. As a staff, they gave up two runs on two hits.
“It’s super fun when both sides come together,” Manning said. “The pitchers did an amazing job tonight; we have an incredible staff.”
Texas State returns to action on Saturday, game two against Youngstown State, with senior lefty Jack Stroud scheduled to take the mound.
The first pitch between Texas State and Youngstown State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Bobcat Ballpark. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
