Texas State rolls through UTRGV in home win

Returning home following a long conference road trip to James Madison, Texas State continued their winning ways defeating the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 12-6. 

The Bobcats and Head Coach Steven Trout improved their record to 15-10 overall winning eight out of their last ten games. 

“You never know coming off a long road trip,” Trout said. “We got in around 3:30 am and had an off day yesterday. But that is what I wanted to see from our team. We came in and we were locked in from the get go.”

Following a scoreless inning from starting pitcher Tony Robie, the Bobcats loaded the bases with one out. 

Shortstop Davis Powell scored the first run of the game taking home on a wild pitch while the runners moved up a base. 

A forced walk by left fielder Daylan Pena to load the bases backup was followed up with a forced bases loaded walk by catcher August Ramirez. 

Up 2-0, second baseman Chase Mora earned his RBI the hard way being hit by the pitch to score third baseman Aaron Lugo extending the lead to 3-0.

Designated hitter Rashawn Galloway connected with a RBI single through the left side to extend the lead 4-0. 

Ramirez scored on a wild pitch before right fielder Alex Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Mora giving the Bobcats a commanding 6-0 lead. 

“It’s about keeping the momentum in our dugout,” Trout said. “We are pretty confident right now despite the loss on Sunday. For us it is simple. If we win the free 90 battle and we have above 50% positive at-bats, our record is almost undefeated. We have to control what we can control even though it’s cliche. If we take care of business on both sides of the ball, we have a good chance of winning that game.”

Lugo tacked on another run for the Bobcats scoring on a wild pitch to make it 7-0. 

In the bottom of the third inning with the bases loaded, first baseman Alec Patino connected with a two-run RBI double off the wall in the left-center field extending the lead to 9-0. 

With runners on third and second, Pena cleared the bases with another Bobcat two-run RBI double off the wall in the left-center field for a 11-0 Texas State lead. 

UTRGV attempted to make a comeback scoring six unanswered runs but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats rolled to a 12-6 win. 

Otto Wofford earned the win for the Bobcats to improve his record to 2-0 overall. 

The Bobcats return to play Thursday night in a critical conference series with the arch rival Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. 

The Cajuns are tied atop the conference standings along with Georgia State as Texas State is just one game behind leaders. 

First pitch is set Thursday at 6 p.m. at Bobcat Ballpark.