Three games separate the second and 11th-place teams in the Sun Belt Conference. What is the beauty of this? Stringing together a few more nights like this will find the Bobcats right back in the hunt for a Sun Belt crown and a postseason berth.
Texas State baseball (20-19, 7-9 Sun Belt Conference) defeated the University of South Alabama (21-17, 6-10 Sun Belt Conference) by a final score of 6-3 Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
Freshman infielder Ryne Farber made his long-awaited return to the lineup on Friday. Farber missed the starting lineup starting March 23 while recovering from an undisclosed injury but didn’t miss a beat in his return.
Farber went 3-5 with two RBIs at the plate, giving the offense the extra kick it had been missing in his absence.
“I love to try and be a spark at the top of the lineup and get the boys fired up,” Farber said. “I showed up [when I was out] and did everything I could to try and get better, and now I’m healthy enough to get back in there.”
Stellar pitching from senior Cameron Bush and redshirt junior Austin Eaton allowed the Bobcats to cruise comfortably for the majority of the night and relieved the pressure on the offense.
Bush got the nod from Texas State Head Coach Steven Trout as Friday night’s starter on the mound and delivered just what the doctor ordered. Bush worked three scoreless innings while only giving up one hit.
Eaton, the usual Friday night starter, took the ball in the fourth inning. He kept the Jaguars off the scoreboard through the seventh inning and worked into the eighth inning when he was pulled with two runners on base.
The book on Eaton closed with his line reading 4.1 innings, five hits and two earned runs.
“We tried a different philosophy a little bit. Cam did a phenomenal job opening up the game, then Eaton came out and was really good as well,” Trout said. “I think it was one of the most complete games we played all year.”
The opening pitch in game two between Texas State and South Alabama is scheduled to be thrown at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 20, at Bobcat Ballpark. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
