The Texas State baseball team (4-3) wrapped up its weekend at the Karbach Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond with a 1-2 record.
The Bobcats seem to carry the mantra “Slam Marcos” wherever they play. Texas State hit three home runs and mashed five doubles across the three games, however, a lack of consistency against left-handed pitching let them down on multiple occasions.
“I look at approach first,” Head Coach Steven Trout said. “We’ve got to get better at getting the ball elevated and hit the ball the other way.”
Texas State struggled against the lefty arms of TCU last Tuesday and continued the trend in losses against Kentucky (6-1), Kansas (3-4) and Washington State’s (5-2) left-handed starter Spencer Jones before turning game three around in the late moments.
Coupled with their southpaw struggles, the Bobcats’ conservative approaches created a frustrating offensive output. On the other hand, things turned around in game three against Washington State.
All weekend it felt like the Bobcats were just missing one big hit, and they got more than just that in their nine-run sixth inning that sealed their victory against Washington State.
“[It felt like] honestly kind of a sense of relief,” Texas State freshman outfielder Ryne Farber said. “We broke through, we had been on the barrel all weekend.”
Farber, who singled twice with two RBIs in this inning, finished with six RBIs and a .462 average on the weekend. He currently holds a .600 average over 25 plate appearances.
Starting pitchers were a bit lackluster for the Bobcats this weekend as no starter went longer than 2.1 innings and the starting rotation gave up a total of 15 runs. The bullpen, however, was able to make up for the lack of execution.
Senior pitcher Drayton Brown went 3 ⅓ innings giving up nothing in his appearance on Sunday, and he set the mold for the Bobcat bullpen on the weekend. The bullpen only surrendered six runs on the weekend as they fought to get ahead early in counts.
In Texas State’s loss against TCU last Tuesday, Trout said hitting and walking batters is costly. This weekend, the Bobcats allowed 26.
“It’s self-inflicted wounds,” Trout said. “We have something called the ‘free 90s battle’ and if you lose that, you aren’t going to win the baseball game.”
Overall, while the record may not reflect it, this losing weekend could be valuable for Texas State baseball as it discovers and addresses internal problems. The Bobcats will face the University of Houston, Louisiana State University and the University of Texas this weekend at the Astros Foundation College Classic.
