By Randy Stevens
Sports Editor
San Marcos — The Texas State baseball team came through with what it needed Sunday, capturing a 13-8 victory in the rubber game of a conference-opening series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
However, the Bobcats didn’t finish the game the way Texas State head coach Ty Harrington would have liked.
The Bobcats enjoyed an eight-run lead headed into the ninth inning, but relievers Joseph Dvorsky and Covey Morrow struggled the seal the deal, allowing the Islanders to score three runs with no outs.
That’s when Harrington pulled out his ace, Carson Smith, to end the game. Smith came in and returned the next three hitters (two on strikeouts) to secure the conference win.
However, the decision threw a wrench in the Bobcats’ rotation, as Smith was scheduled to pitch in tonight’s 6:30 p.m. game at Texas. Instead Harrington will likely call upon a number of arms with limited experience to see how they fare under the big-time surroundings at Disch-Faulk Field.
“I’m not sure who will get the start now, but I wanted to bring Carson in and make sure that we got the win Sunday because it was a conference game,” Harrington said. “Now we’ll consider our options and won’t likely make a decision until close to game time.”
Harrington did hint that sophomore Matt Steiner might get a chance to see his first action on the mound this season, and perhaps Davis will work a few innings in relief.
Texas comes into tonight’s game with an 8-3 record after winning two of three games at last weekend’s Houston College Classic. Texas beat ninth-ranked Rice and Big 12 foe Missouri, but closed the weekend with a 1-0 loss to Houston, a team Texas State swept in this year’s season-opening series.
But that’s not the only aspect to spur hopes of a Bobcat upset tonight. Texas State has traditionally played competitive baseball against the Longhorns, and has actually racked up seven wins against UT in Harrington’s 13-year career.
“It’s always a game we get excited about and it’s always a lot of fun to go and play in an environment like they have at Texas,” Harrington said. “Still, we know that we have a game to play, and like any other game we’re going to approach this one the same as any other looking for a win.”
If the Bobcats are going to find success tonight in Austin, the team will have to keep swinging the bats like it did Sunday against the Islanders where State collected 17 hits.
It was a pleasant turnaround from the past three games that saw State struggle at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position. The Bobcats are batting .261 as a team but are hitting. 345 in the past three games.
Kyle Livingstone enjoyed a solid weekend at the plate, going 5-for-1 with a team-best five RBIs. Freshman Andrew Stumph currently leads the Bobcat hitters with a .400 average.
Offensively, the Longhorns are spearheaded by Cameron Rupp who is hitting .342 with a team-leading seven RBIs. Texas is hitting .251 as a team.
While the Bobcats haven’t named a starter, the Longhorns will send right-hander Austin Dicharry to the mound, who owns an 0-1 record with a 3.38 ERA. His loss was against New Mexico on Feb. 21 after giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts. He yielded two runs, five hits and one walk in four innings of work against No. 18 Stanford Feb. 28.
After tonight’s game, the Bobcats are back in action Friday when they open a three-game series against Penn State at Bobcat Field.
