San Marcos — Something was wrong with Kyle Kubitza.

His swing didn’t just have a hitch, it looked as if a bungee cord was wrapped around his bat and attached to the backstop.

Kubitza wasn’t getting the necessary torque from his body to uncoil on the swing and his average dipped. In 12 non-conference games, he hit a meager .208 with no home runs and six runs batted in.

So the coaching staff recently went back to the drawing board with Kubitza and tried to figure out the culprit.

“We wanted to change a little bit about his launch position to get him into a better position to hit the ball,” Texas State head coach Ty Harrington said. “You could be the smartest coach in the world, but if the kids don’t take the information, then you have nothing to show for it. Kyle’s coachable and has made us look good.”

Since the coaches retooled Kubitza’s technique, the sophomore third baseman raised his average 101 percentage points and helped lead a steady offensive attack that has averaged nine runs per outing in eight Southland Conference games. Kubitza went 3 for 4 against Lamar Saturday afternoon and drove in five runs to guide the Bobcats to a 12-1 win.

“This was the same time last year when I started hit well too,” Kubitza said. “At the beginning of the year, you’re not too sure how people are going to pitch you and as the year goes on, you’ll figure out the different pitches they’ll tend to throw to you and it can only help.”

When Kubitza was in his slump, pitchers didn’t respect his power and often challenged him with high fastballs. Once he set his eyes in the upper half of the zone, they dropped the hammer and sent him flailing at curveballs.

The Cardinals (15-9, 2-6 SLC) must have read the old scouting report since they tested the sophomore with early fastballs. Lamar soon learned it wasn’t the same Kubitza at the plate.

“I jumped on those first fastballs today and made sure I didn’t get behind in the count,” Kubitza said. “I knew they didn’t want to have a pitch get by the catcher because we had some runners on, so I took advantage of what they gave me.”

Kubitza drove in two of his five runs in the first inning with a single an then doubled in another an inning later. By the time Kubitza dug in for his third at-bat, the Cardinals changed pitchers — so the sophomore changed his approach.

“When they brought in the new guy, I noticed he was throwing a lot of curveballs, so tried to sit back on those,” Kubitza said. “I went with where he pitched it and pulled it into right field.”

Kubitza’s single drove in another pair of runs to extend the Texas State’s lead to 12 runs and the way Michael Russo was pitching, the Bobcats (13-8, 6-2) didn’t need more than one.

Russo bounced back from a sub-par outing last weekend against Sam Houston State to dominate Lamar. He pitched seven innings, scattered eight hits and struck out five.

“When you pitch with such a big lead, it gives you a lot of confidence,” Russo said. “You don’t need to worry about giving up a game-tying home run, so you can just attack the zone.”

With the win, Russo improved to 3-0 and gives the Bobcats an opportunity to sweep the Cardinals today. Texas State won the first game of the series, 8-7, thanks to a five-run eighth inning.

In case you’re wondering how Kubitza did Friday night — 3 for 4 with a run scored and two RBIs.

Bobcat Notes — Harrington won his 350th career game Saturday afternoon ... Bret Atwood went 3 for 4 to increase his team-leading average to .404 ... Jeff McVaney, who also plays on the Texas State football team, went 2 for 3 with three RBIs.