As they embark on their journey to make an NCAA Regional for the first time in four years, sixth-seeded Texas State started their Sun Belt baseball tournament run on the right foot as they dispatched the third-seeded Appalachian State Mountaineers 6-5 in the second round of the Sun Belt Baseball Championship at Dabos Park in Montgomery, Ala.
The Bobcats (35-22, 17-14 SBC) didn’t need the long ball today, and although App State (30-23, 17-14 SBC) got close in the end with two runs in the last two innings, the Bobcat bullpen shut the door on the Mountaineers.
Freshman Wade Cooper made his postseason debut pitching a quality start, giving up three earned runs on four hits and three walks across six innings while striking out four to earn his sixth win of the season.
Neither team got on the scoreboard in the first inning, but App State struck first in the second inning with an RBI groundout to third base from Colton Delton. The Bobcats came back with two runs in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single from junior Manny Salas and a sacrifice fly from freshman Clayton Namken.
App State leveled the ballgame shortly after with a deep double from Kameron Miller in the bottom of the third, and neither side were able to add any runs in the next two innings.
In the top of the sixth inning, Texas State broke through courtesy of freshman left fielder Blake Beheler’s two-RBI ground-rule double. He was brought home by senior right fielder Rashawn Galloway, who went back up the middle with an RBI single to give Texas State a three-run advantage.
The Mountaineers got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but Cooper kept his posture and limited the damage to one run.
Sophomore shortstop Brady Boles extended the Bobcat lead back to three runs with an RBI double down the third base line in the top of the eighth. App State once again tightened the scoreline with a run in the bottom of the inning.
After a quiet top of the ninth, the Mountaineers had a late push and threatened a comeback, with the tying run on second in the bottom of the frame after Ethan Puig struck an RBI double into the left-center field gap with two outs.
Graduate pitcher Kyle Froehlich prevented a comeback from App State after forcing a soft grounder and secured a vital win for the Bobcats.
Texas State will be back in action at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 22 against either second-seed Coastal Carolina or the seventh-seeded Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the SBC Quarterfinal. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
