Published: May 16, 2008 11:59 am            

Loftin lifts State past UTSA

College Baseball

San Antonio — Lance Loftin was robbed of a home run against Baylor on Tuesday. Loftin made sure twice his hits on Thursday night wouldn’t be caught at the wall. Texas State, led by Loftin’s power hitting and Mike Hart’s strong outing, dropped UTSA 10-3.

The Bobcats (28-24, 18-10 SLC), who struggled to get a hit against the Bears, brought their bats out early at Roadrunner Field. Texas State staked Hart to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Ben Theriot singled in a run and an error by Roadrunner right fielder Tyler Carpenter brought in another.

Hart (6-3) gave up a run on his second pitch of the game after James Keithley drove a solo home run over the left-center field wall. Keithley set an UTSA record for runs in a season with 67 and scored two on the night.

Hart settled in after the mistake and even though the Roadrunners (37-16, 21-7 SLC) continued to hit him hard, the ball either went to Bobcat fielders or died in the 11-mph wind.

“With the wind like it was today, I knew if they barreled them up, they weren’t going to go anywhere,” Hart said. “The ball was carrying to left, but I knew if they hit it to center or right, it wasn’t going to go anywhere. I kind of pounded the zone and let them hit it a little bit.”

Texas State jumped all over UTSA starter Ryan Proudfoot in the fifth after Thomas Field led off with a single. Field got a two-second jump on Proudfoot (7-3) and stole second easily. Two batters later, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Loftin stepped to the plate.

Loftin, who went 0 for 4 against Baylor, took two pitches to begin the at-bat. Proudfoot was forced to groove a pitch and Loftin crushed it.

“I hit that one a lot harder (than the one at Baylor) and I just knew when I hit it,” Loftin said. “I just kept on looking up. I was kind of upset about (my home run being taken back) because I’m from Waco and I hate Baylor. It just took me over the top when he robbed that ball, so it set the mood for tonight.”

The Bobcats pushed the lead to 6-1 in the fourth when Adam Witek singled with one out. Witek then stole second and one batter later, swiped third. After Bret Atwood flied out, Field dropped an RBI single in front of the left fielder.

After the Roadrunners got two back in the fifth on three hits, the teams traded zeros. No team would score until the top of the eighth when Loftin followed Goldschmidt’s RBI double with another mammoth three-run bomb.

“The offense did a tremendous job tonight, taking what (UTSA) was trying to do to us,” Texas State head coach Ty Harrington said. “Most of what they were trying to throw us was away, and we did a tremendous job of adjusting. But it all started with Mike Hart. I thought he was tremendous tonight. That’s the Mike Hart we need for the rest of the season.”

Hart didn’t allow a run after the fifth inning and went the distance. He threw 104 pitches, giving up seven hits and striking out two. The Bobcats put it together behind Hart and it’s what they need gearing up for the conference tournament.

“It’s incredible, because we haven’t been able to put it together yet,” Loftin said. “Actually being able to play defense behind a pitcher who’s doing his darndest up there for us is really good. This is definitely a mood-changer. Momentum is definitely on our side now.”

        

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