Jesus Tovar impressed in his first start in San Marcos in a back-and-forth game that saw the Texas State Bobcats (10-12, 2-3 SBC) battle for a much-needed 5-4 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves (10-12, 2-3 SBC) to earn their first conference series win of the year on a warm Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark.
“It was really big [to win],” Texas State head coach Steven Trout said. “We’ve been battling…it’s time to go get a sweep ourselves.”
Tovar tossed for a quality start, pitching six innings and allowing three earned runs on eight hits while striking out six in the process. He lowered his season ERA to 5.86.
“[Jesus Tovar]’s had a couple rough outings since moving to the weekend,” said Trout. “But he just made pitches…we’re trying to get his changeup going a little more, great job overall today [from Tovar].”
Reliever Matthew Tippie ultimately earned the win for Texas State, pitching in relief after Tovar’s exit. He tossed two innings, allowing no earned runs on three hits while striking out three. Tippie lowered his overall ERA to 2.89.
It was an intense battle that saw constant action all throughout, with the biggest contributions coming from a pair of freshmen for the Bobcats. Left fielder Caden Baker produced his first collegiate hit in a big way with a two-run inside-the-park home run to open the scoring in the bottom of the second.
“I was joking with [Caden Baker] before the game about how it was time for him to get his first college hit,” said Trout. “Inside-the-park home run was not on my bingo card, but great job by him.”
Whenever Texas State struck a punch throughout the game, Arkansas State counterpunched almost immediately afterward.
Arkansas State designated hitter Cason Tollett tied the game in the top half of the third with a two-run RBI double. In the bottom half, second basemen Dawson Park crushed a leadoff home run into left-center to retake the lead for Texas State.
In the top of the fourth, Arkansas State tied it up once again on a sacrifice fly.
The Bobcats retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh after Park drew a bases-loaded walk with just one out. Texas State failed to produce more runs from that inning, however.
Catcher Theo Kummer mistakenly let Arkansas State shortstop Patrick Engskov reach third base after a misthrow on a steal attempt. The Red Wolves tied the game again when a catcher’s balk was called after one of Tippie’s pitches hopped into Kummer’s chest protector.
“You just got to move on to the next pitch,” said Trout. “It’s about just moving past the good and bad things.”
The Bobcats ultimately won after shortstop Ryne Farber scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to put the Bobcats in front. Reliever Bryson Dudley slammed the door shut on Arkansas State to not just earn his first save of the season but also to give Texas State its first series victory since its season-opening series against Binghamton back in February.
The Bobcats will look to bring out the brooms for a sweep against the Red Wolves on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Texas State currently has not listed a starting pitcher, but Arkansas State is expected to start right-handed pitcher Jack Hibbard. The Sunday finale will be streamed on ESPN+.
