On a back-and-forth day to begin the weekend, the Texas State Bobcats (11-3) had their six-game winning streak end against the future in-conference opponent Washington State Cougars (6-7) in their first game of the day before returning the favor with a dominating win in their second game of the doubleheader Friday evening at Bobcat Ballpark.
Texas State continued its hot start of the bats in both games, dropping their first game 9-7 in a tight contest while a late inning explosion saw the Bobcats prevail in the second game to go back up in the series.
Game 1 – TXST 7, WSU 9
The offense, once again, started on the right track after a two-run first inning that began with senior utility Rashawn Galloway doubling down the left field line to score a run before eventually reaching home himself via a fielder’s choice from junior first basemen Manny Salas.
The Bobcats added to the lead as sophomore shortstop Dawson Park launched his first home run of the season with a three-run bomb to make it a 5-1 lead going into the fourth.
“[Park]’s taking strides from last year to this year, I think he really deserved his opportunity,” Galloway said. “Seeing that type of juice is nothing new to us, but I think he’s probably new to the fans.”
The weekend rotation, compared to their last few weekends, had a bit of a slower start. Graduate pitcher Kyle Freohlich started on the mound and was relatively fine besides the top of the fourth, as the Cougars clawed their way back and tied it with a three-run home run of their own.
Freohlich, despite the blemish, pitched six innings and struck out five while giving up five earned runs on six hits and three hit-by-pitches.
Texas State reclaimed the lead off a fielder’s choice, going up 6-5, a lead they attempted to keep as Washington State kept getting on base, waiting for another breakthrough.
Eventually, in the top of the seventh, the Cougars took advantage of freshman Titan Targac and scored three runs to take their first lead of the weekend, one they would ultimately hold for good and end the Bobcats longest winning streak since 2022.
Game 2 – TXST 10, WSU 4
45 minutes later, Texas State once again engaged with Washington State looking to flush their previous loss and get back on track.
Compared to the first two games of the weekend, the bats were a bit quieter to start the game. One of the developing stories is freshman Nolan Moore leaving the game early after pitching two innings due to an injury.
Trout said he was hopeful the injury wasn’t too serious, but more updates will follow with Moore expected to be further checked out with an MRI.
From there, the bullpen got to work in an attempt to keep the Cougars at bay with the likes of seniors Cameron O’Banon and Braylen Timmins, junior Keller Eberly and freshmen Tyler Eberly and Alex Yearwood, who pitched in his first game since Baylor on Feb. 17.
The Bobcats struck first again as freshman catcher Clayton Namken launched a home run towards right center to give Texas State an early lead in the third inning.
While Washington State evened the score with a longball of their own in the fifth, the Bobcats struck back in the sixth and seventh innings. After a sacrifice fly from Salas, Park homered for the second time on the day with a 431 ft two-run blast into center field.
In the seventh inning, Texas State exploded for six runs off the bats of Namken, Galloway and Salas. Namken and Galloway provided a combined three runs with long doubles while Salas added an exclaimation point with a line-drive three run bomb into left to make it 10-1.
While the Cougars scored three runs in the top of the ninth, Texas State finished the job and got back in the win column.
Texas State will seek to finish the series against Washington State on-top as junior Jesus Tovar is slated to start with a 12 p.m. first pitch on March 7 at Bobcat Ballpark. The series finale will be streamed on ESPN+.
