In a contest that got out of hand very quickly, the recent woes for Texas State (8-9) continued as the Bobcats entered Sun Belt conference play with a 15-4 loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers (9-8) on Friday night in Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone, North Carolina.
RHP Caleb Cross earned his second win of the season, throwing for five innings and giving up two earned runs on two hits.
The Mountaineers heavily capitalized against LHP Jesus Tovar, who has been blown up in two starts since moving to the weekend rotation last week. Tovar tossed only two innings, giving up seven earned runs on five hits and ballooning his season ERA to 7.47, marking his second loss of 2025.
Appalachian State had two big offensive innings that helped them run-rule the Bobcats. The Mountaineers struck first with a five-run inning in the bottom of the second as third basemen Jonathan Xuereb started the blowout with a crushed two-RBI double, tacked on with an RBI sacrifice fly from shortstop Tyler Lichtenberger, an RBI single from second basemen Joseph Zamora and a bases-loaded walk.
The Mountaineers doubled their lead with a seven-run inning in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Xuereb launched his second double of the night into the gap in left-center, unloading the bases and tallying three more RBIs. Xuereb finished the night hitting 2-for-3 with five RBIs.
Immediately following Xuereb’s double came consecutive RBI triples from Lichtenberger and catcher Braxton Church to further drive up the score.
To cap off the run-filled inning, first basemen Juan Correa socked a home run down into right field to make it 14-2 by the end of the fourth inning.
The Bobcats failed to put up much of a fight overall. Zachary Gingrich, who started as the designated hitter, launched his second home run of the season in the top of the fourth. Later on, third basemen Chase Mora drove in one run from an RBI single, along with a sacrifice fly from right fielder Alan Shibley.
The game was eventually called in the top of the seventh inning as the Sun Belt’s run-rule came into effect, finalizing the blowout despite Texas State’s attempt to play on.
Texas State will look to rebound Saturday with Alex Valentin starting on the mound against Caleb Marks, the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week. The first pitch is scheduled for noon, and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
