Game 1: TXST 2, USM 8
Despite taking an early lead Friday night at Pete-Taylor Park, Texas State was unable to hold off the Southern Miss attack, dropping Friday night’s series opener after a six-run third inning propelled USM to victory.
Freshman righty Wade Cooper made his first collegiate start in a tough place, as Hattiesburg holds a reputation for being a tough place for visitors to come in and play at. Cooper surrendered seven runs on eight hits over his six innings of work, picking up his first loss of the year, moving his record to 4-1.
Senior infielder Chase Mora reached base on a fielders choice in the second inning. Shortly after, freshman catcher Clayton Namken hit a ball of the centerfield wall to bring Mora around to score, giving the Bobcats the early 1-0 lead.
Southern Miss struck back in the third. The Golden Eagles put together a five hit, six run inning, punctuated by a three run home run off the bat of Ben Higdon, booming the lead to 6-1.
USM added to the lead in the fifth thanks to another home run off the bat of Kyle Morrison, putting Southern Miss ahead 7-1.
The Bobcats pushed their last run of the night across in the seventh when Namken came around to score on a fielders choice, before USM added one more run in the eighth for good measure, bringing the game to its final score of 8-2.
Game 2: TXST 3, USM 6
The Texas State Bobcats fell yet again to Sun Belt title contenders Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park. Redshirt sophomore Cade Smith made his first-ever start for the Maroon and Gold and secured a quality start, but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats weren’t able to generate much offensively on the day.
The Golden Eagles struck first with an RBI infield single at the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Jackson Cotton responded with a two-run 419-foot blast to exchange the lead.
Southern Miss tied the game back up shortly after with another RBI single and retook the advantage with an RBI groundout in the third. After that point, Smith didn’t allow a single run and kept the Bobcats in the ballgame.
The Golden Eagles put the game to bed in the 8th inning thanks to two home runs from Davis Gillespie and Tucker Stockman to turn the scoreline from 3-2 to 6-2.
The Bobcats, who were silent offensively since the Cotton home run in the second inning, failed to muster up any sort of resistance in the 9th.
Game 3: TXST 4, USM 5 (10 inn)
In an attempt to salvage a series loss, the Texas State Bobcats fought hard to force a comeback victory but fell short in a 5-4 extra innings loss to the No. 22 Southern Miss Golden Eagles Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Bobcats (25-15, 9-9 SBC) took their best shot with junior lefty Jesus Tovar starting on the mound, who still had some trouble in the four innings he pitched, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits and four walks and a hit-by-pitch while striking out just one.
However, graduate Kyle Froehlich, who moved into the bullpen earlier this week, took over in the fifth and perhaps showed his willingness to remain in the weekend rotation, pitching five frames and striking out eight Golden Eagles (28-12, 11-7 SBC) on three hits and one walk and one earned run.
Southern Miss struck the first blow almost instantaneously with a runner on first as senior second basemen Kyle Morrison smacked a double in the bottom of the first inning, as a throwing error from freshman leftfielder Jackson Cotton allowed a runner to score.
Momentarily, an RBI single via the bat of junior leftfielder Davis Gillespie drove in another run and the Golden Eagles found themselves with a 2-0 lead early. Senior centerfielder Joey Urban tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth, extending their lead to 3-0 as the Texas State bats struggled to find hits.
As the game turned to the fifth, senior third basemen Chase Mora stepped up and delivered a two-run double to cut the deficit to 3-2 as the offense began to find some bouts of life.
In the top of the seventh, the Bobcats took advantage of a throwing error that allowed Mora to beat out a potential inning-ending double play as sophomore shortstop Dawson Park drove home the game-tying run with an RBI single, knotting it up at three-apiece.
Southern Miss retook the lead with a lead-off home run from senior first basemen Matthew Russo, giving Texas State all the pressure once again as three outs remained.
After a single from junior second basemen Justin Vossos, the Bobcats were down to their final out as Park delivered once again: this time, a double into the gap in leftfield that allowed Vossos to score from first base and even the game at 4-4.
Junior designated hitter Jaquae Stewart almost gave Texas State their first lead of the afternoon following the double, launching a 3-2 pitch deep into right that fell just short of the wall on the warning track, as the Golden Eagles looked to put away the Bobcats for good.
Despite a threatening bottom of the ninth, Froehlich was able to keep the home team at bay and ultimately sent this game to extras, their second one of the season and first since last weekend on April 11 against Troy.
Ultimately, it was not to be for Texas State. After a quiet top of the tenth, senior pitcher Alizaeh Gutierrez came in to replace Froehlich. It began to unravel quickly, with a lead-off walk leading to a single that pushed the runner that represented the game-winning score 90-feet away from home.
Gutierrez threw a wild pitch that allowed Southern Miss to reach home easily, completing their weekend sweep of the Bobcats, sending them back to the Hill Country as Texas State remains to win a true road game this season besides their weekend sweep against Georgia State on March 27-29.
Texas State, which began the weekend in second place within the Sun Belt Conference, slid all the way to a four-way tie for sixth place.
The Bobcats will seek to find themselves in the win column once again when they return home at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21 to take on the Incarnate Word Cardinals, looking to avenge last season’s 7-6 loss in San Antonio.
The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
