After a day of rest following their comeback victory Thursday night, the sixth-seeded Texas State Bobcats found themselves on the doorsteps of a potential Sun Belt Conference Championship Game appearance and a way to solidify a potential at-large bid. However, facing off against the seventh-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns once more, the Bobcats were stymied as the Ragin’ Cajuns took both games Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Ala.
Game 1: 12-6
The Bobcats first chance was their closest. Despite Louisiana-Lafayette taking an early 4-1 lead through the first three innings of action against senior pitcher Alizah Gutierez, Texas State clawed their way back through RBI singles from freshmen Jackson Cotton and Clayton Namken. Cotton gave the Bobcats a 5-4 lead with a deep sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh and needing to get six outs to make the conference title game.
However, the bullpen quickly unraveled not long after the ‘Cats got their first lead of the day after two consecutive singles started the eighth inning. The game was evened up at five when sophomore left fielder Mark Collins smacked an RBI double into right.
Once graduate pitcher Kyle Froehlich came in, the flood gate for the Ragin’ Cajuns opened as a barrage of singles and a fielding error from sophomore shortstop Brady Boles allowed Louisiana-Lafayette to score six runs and take a commanding 10-5 lead.
Junior first basemen Donovan LaSalle crushed a two-run bomb for his second home run of the game to extend the Ragin’ Cajun lead in the top half of the ninth. After Namken smacked his 11th long ball of the year in the bottom half, the game concluded and pushed Texas State for the first time in the SBC Tournament on the brink of elimination.
Game 2: 7-4
After yet another weather delay pushed the starting time from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Bobcats trotted out junior Jesus Tovar on the mound against Louisiana-Lafayette freshman Sawyer Pruitt.
Texas State’s offensive woes seemingly continued as Pruitt, who had a season ERA above five entering the finale, throttled the bats with a quality start that included eight strikeouts while giving up just two runs on five hits en-route to his seventh win of the year.
The Ragin’ Cajuns drove up Tovar’s pitch count and got on base plenty enough through the first few innings before finally breaking through in the fourth with a three-run spot as they drew RBI singles from Collins and LaSalle, going up 3-0.
The Bobcats cut into the deficit in the bottom half of the fourth when junior designated hitter Manny Salas gave Texas State their second postseason home run with a moonshot over centerfield, making it 3-1. Salas finished the night 3-4, adding on a double and single.
Louisiana-Lafayette extended the lead in the sixth off the first pitch sophomore pitcher Cade Smith threw, as LaSalle drove home his third RBI of the game. Just as it was just two innings prior, the Bobcats took advantage of a wild pitch and kept it within two runs, making it a 4-2 ball game.
Throughout the last three innings of action, Texas State’s defense caught the Ragin’ Cajuns on the base paths multiple times to prevent more damage as the bats tried to wake up, picking two runners off and catching freshman shortstop Blaze Rodriguez attempting to steal second base when he slid off.
While Rodriguez’s bat wasn’t much of an impact, his defense played a major role in keeping the Bobcats at bay, highlighted with two big double plays that occurred in the third and eighth inning, putting a stop to any momentum Texas State had.
When the eighth inning began, Louisiana-Lafayette inserted junior Ty Roman, who previously started against the Bobcats in their first matchup on Thursday and held them to no hits through six innings, to close out Texas State.
In the top of the ninth, the Cajuns delivered arguably the backbreaker when senior first basemen Lee Amedee took a two-out, 0-2 pitch off of freshman Wade Cooper deep into right field for a three-run home run that made it 7-2.
The Bobcats fought to stay alive for as long as they could, making it a three-run game as junior second basemen Justin Vossos smacked a two-run home run into left field.
After a walk and a single gave Texas State two baserunners, the ‘Cats were down to their last out and it was up to senior right fielder Rashawn Galloway to deliver one last miracle. On a full-count, Galloway swung on and missed, ending Texas State’s tournament title chances for good.
What’s next?
The Bobcats hopes rests fully in the hands of the Tournament Selection Committee. While they boast a more than respectable resume to make a Regional, projections like Baseball America and D1Baseball have Texas State lying somewhere in between being one of the last teams in to being one of first four out.
With teams like Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy also padding up their resume in the SBC Tournament, alongside multiple conferences having bid-stealers, the Bobcats NCAA Tournament hopes are on the ropes.
Texas State’s fate will be determined at noon on Monday, May 25 when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on the 2026 NCAA D1 baseball selection show. It will be available to watch on ESPN+.
