Bobcats earn non-conference series win over Jaguars

Though it didn’t count toward any conference records, Texas State won a series over the top team in the Sun Belt.

South Alabama dropped two of its three games against the maroon and gold in a non-conference series over the weekend inside Bobcat Ballpark, earning Texas State its third consecutive series win.

“We’re starting to play good baseball, we’re starting to pitch it well, play good defense and the bats are coming alive some,” head coach Steven Trout said. “So it’s been good and so hopefully, we just continue to head in the same direction.”

The Bobcats came from behind to win the series opener on Friday. Junior third baseman Justin Thompson got the hosts on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the first that tied the game at 1-1. But the team went the next six innings without scoring another run, allowing the Jaguars to take a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

The visitors pulled their starting pitcher, which led to Texas State getting runners on base. Junior right fielder John Wuthrich reached first on an error and South Alabama walked the next four batters, giving up two free runs and tying the score at 3-3. Senior first baseman Cole Coffey and graduate catcher Bryce Bonner both connected on sacrifice flies to gain the lead and senior centerfielder Chase Evans cleared the bases with an RBI triple to put the Bobcats up 6-3.

Redshirt freshman right-hander Cameron Bush (2-3) shut out the Jaguars in the final two innings to receive the win.

“Sometimes you just gotta let the game come to you,” Trout said. “And we were chasing runs and you just gotta be patient. And so those are times we’re really locking in on one area and sometimes we were taking it and sometimes we were letting them go. And so they were just being disciplined hitters trying to get on time and luckily sat there and took some walks.”

The momentum carried into Saturday’s game in a big way. The hosts batted 19-41, the second-most hits in any game this season. All nine players in the team’s starting lineup got on base during the game — six swung for multiple hits. Sophomore left fielder Jose Gonzalez and junior shortstop Dalton Shuffield tied for a team-leading three RBIs as Texas State sealed a 13-4 victory.

Sophomore starting pitcher Zeke Wood was credited with the win, giving up three runs and striking out three in 5.0 innings of work.

“I think one, you know, baseball is a very confident sport, so guys are getting some swings and having success,” Trout said. “And I think we went to work with some guys’ swings, just trying to get them more on their legs, trying to simplify their swing a little bit. And it’s funny, when guys work extra, how all of a sudden they start hitting better. So I think they’re just kind of building their confidence back and getting back to being a simple hitter. When they do that, they’re really good.”

The Bobcats couldn’t keep form in the finale on Sunday, though. After falling behind 4-2 through four innings, South Alabama responded with a five-run frame in the fifth and added two insurance runs in the sixth. The maroon and gold were held scoreless the final five innings, suffering a  9-4 loss.

But with his team now having earned its first series win over the Jaguars (26-17, 12-6 Sun Belt) in program history, Trout is feeling good about the consistency his players are beginning to show.

Texas State (21-28, 9-9) hosts Georgia State (11-35, 7-11) in its final home series of the season this weekend, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

“That’ll be a big weekend. Don’t look at the record by any stretch because they played a really, really tough schedule,” Trout said. “They’ve done a really good job in recruiting and got some young players that are really good and really talented, they’ll have a good Friday night guy. And so I know this weekend they didn’t play due to COVID, so they’ll be good and fresh and heading down ready to go. And so it’ll be a good challenge, so we need to go out and play good baseball and if we do that, we’ll be fine.”