CLEBURNE, Texas – A dominating pitching performance on the mound from junior Jesus Tovar and freshman Titan Targac paved the way for the Texas State Bobcats (9-2) to leave North Texas as tournament champions.
A 3-0 victory against the Abilene Christian Wildcats (6-5) on a windy Sunday afternoon at La Moderna Field in Cleburne, Texas capped off a perfect 3-0 weekend for Texas State.
The Bobcats pitching staff rolled against Abilene Christian as they didn’t relinquish a single hit until the beginning of the eighth inning. Tovar earned his third straight win after tossing a quality start against the Wildcats, giving up no hits in six innings while striking out seven.
Along with their performances, Texas State ended the weekend undefeated. As a result, the Bobcats were named the first ever tournament champions of the Cleburne College Baseball Series.
“We found a way to win,” Texas State head coach Steven Trout said. “Pitching and defense carried us through…Any time there’s a trophy on the line, we’re going to win it.”
Junior first basemen Manny Salas was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after finishing the weekend going 6-14 with four RBI.
The lone runs scored today, in fact, came off the bat from Salas in the bottom of the first as he smoked a three-run home run into left field to continue the weekend trend of the Bobcats striking the first punch.
“[Salas] is here to hit and he knows how to hit.” Trout said.
The Wildcats, unlike Friday night, were unable to give any counterpunches besides two lone singles in the eighth that broke up the combined no-hitter. They did have plenty of opportunities after several walks and hit-by-pitches, but the Bobcats defense kept those runs off the board.
Texas State, now on their fifth consecutive win, are having their best start of the year since the 2022 season, the last time the program made the NCAA Tournament.
The Bobcats will return to San Marcos this next upcoming weekend to face yet another future in-conference Pac-12 opponent in the Washington State Cougars in a four-game series beginning at 6 p.m Thursday, March 5. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
