Eight runs in the first two innings and a freshman pitching duo put the Bobcats over the edge in their 8-7 win against Lamar on Sunday to clinch the weekend series.
The win improves Texas State’s record to 5-3.
Head Coach Steven Trout said the series-winning game was an important victory for the ‘Cats.
“That was a big win,” Trout said. “That’s a really good team over there and (Lamar) is going to win a lot of baseball games this year.”
SUNDAY
Despite allowing a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, the Texas State offense bounced back in the bottom of the first with a six-run inning, including a two-run single from senior infielder Jaxon Williams.
Lamar responded in the second inning, however, scoring four runs and tying the game up at 6-6 before Trout pulled senior starting pitcher Wes Engle out of the game.
Engle handed the ball to redshirt freshman Cameron Bush, it was up to Bush to stop the bleeding.
Trout said that Engle was pulled because he was affected by the weather and Lamar’s solid hitting.
“Wes got off to a bad start,” Trout said. “He was out of the strike zone. You are going to give up runs on days like today when the wind is blowing out. The biggest key is to not give up any free 90s and unfortunately he was doing that.”
Trout said that Bush had a strong start in his college debut.
“What a great first outing in (Bush’s) college career,” Trout said. “Right there and coming in to keep pitching and keep pitching and get the win. Couldn’t be more proud.”
After Texas State added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning to break the tie at 8-6, Bush followed up with 3.2 innings pitched and allowed one hit, zero runs and two strikeouts for his first win in his collegiate career.
With Bush coming out in the sixth inning, freshman Tony Robie, who won his first game last Sunday against Stony Brook, came in for relief, going 2.0 innings and allowing two hits, one run and two strikeouts.
Coming in for his second save of the season, junior Tristian Stivors pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and zero runs to seal a 8-7 win for the Bobcats.
Though the offense had seen its struggles this week, the Bobcats seemed to finally hit a groove on Sunday, scoring eight runs- the most in one game this season- including six in one inning, which marks the most runs in a single inning this season.
“I thought (their offensive performance) was great,” Trout said. “Anytime (Lamar) can score two runs in the first, you never know how you are going to respond and be able to come back and score six… a lot of it is confidence and a lot of it is coming back into the groove of things.”
“Innings through three and eight I thought we lost a lot of baserunners out there and our approaches were a little loose on the plate but overall we are heading in the right direction as a offense,” Trout said.
The win came after a 4-3 walkoff win Saturday and a 3-1 loss on Friday.
SATURDAY
Junior John Wuthrich had the game-winning hit on Saturday, sending a shot over center field to tie the series at 1-1. Wuthrich and three other Bobcats had multiple hits, including senior Will Hollis’s 5-5 performance with a home run, a triple and two runs scored.
FRIDAY
Junior infielder Justin Thompson’s RBI was not enough for a Bobcat comeback in the ninth inning on Friday as the ‘Cats fell 3-1 to start the series. Lamar managed two runs in the first inning to set the tone for the game as senior Zachary Leigh allowed two runs off three hits in seven innings played.
Texas State comes back on Wednesday to battle Rice at Bobcat Ballpark before traveling to Houston to take the Cougars in a three game weekend series.