Bobcats drop opener against Ragin Cajuns

Texas State dropped their Sun Belt Tournament Opener as the Bobcats were pushed back by arch-rival Louisiana in a 6-1 loss.

It was a rough outing for the Bobcat offense who managed a single base hit while leaving eight runners on base.

“Obviously the story of the night is getting one hit,” Trout said. “We had guys on the base paths at night long after drawing eight walks and two hit by pitches then loading the bases in the first inning. We didn’t cash in and we didn’t have a good approach at the plate. We just have to flush and turn around quickly to go on a run and see what happens.”

Though taking the loss, Trout said he was in support of starting pitcher Levi Wells who threw five innings while throwing out eight batters.

“I thought Levi Wells threw the ball really well,” Trout said. “He was really competitive tonight and he had his stuff going. Obviously the big swing by Taylor for the home run was a really good swing in a big moment but I thought Levi gave us a chance.”

Following a scoreless first three innings, Louisiana struck first blood in the bottom of the fourth.

With runners on first and second with two outs and a 3-2 count, the Ragin Cajuns hit a three-run home blast, as Louisiana took the lead in emphatic fashion at 3-0.

Louisiana again capitalized on their two-out hitting as the Ragin Cajuns had the bases loaded with two outs.

The Cajuns then hit a two-run double, but were unable to bring in the runner at first, as right fielder Kameron Weil threw the base runner out at home plate for the final out.

The Bobcats looked to get back into the game in the top of the seventh following two walks and Weil nabbing the first base hit for the Bobcats with an infield single.

Despite hitting into the double play, Davis Powell scored the first run of the game as Texas State cut the lead down to 5-1.

But it was the only run that the Bobcats could muster in the inning, as a strikeout ended the inning.

Louisiana tacked on another run in the bottom of the 7th inning as the Cajuns rolled to a 6-1 win.

The Cajuns were able to keep the Bobcats off balance at the plate, despite allowing eight walks in the game.

“We faced their starting pitcher who spun us a lot of breaking balls especially to our right handed hitters,” Trout said. “I thought we did a great job of laying off the breaker, which was the game plan to find a way to not swing the breaking ball down. We got him to walk and then hit us a couple of times. But he has a good spin rate fastball at 92-93 at the top of the zone. You have to find a way to get to it and we didn’t.”

With the Bobcats on the verge of an early exit in the Sun Belt Tournament, Texas State is looking to get back to the grindstone. “For us it’s about competing and not trying to get ahead of ourselves,” Trout said. “You can’t think about winning the tournament but rather just winning tomorrow. It starts with the first pitch so we will go look at the video and get back to work.”

Texas State squares off with Georgia State in an elimination game that was completed before time of press.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc