Bobcats eliminate ULM, advance to Sun Belt semifinals

No. 1 seed Texas State recovered from a slow start at the plate Friday night to defeat No. 10 seed Louisiana-Monroe, 8-2, and advance to the Sun Belt tournament semifinals.

“We've been in these games all year long,” head coach Steven Trout said. “I would love to get up early and stay ahead, but that's just not the way we like to do things, I guess.”

The Bobcats never had more than one runner get on base through the first five innings of the night. Senior shortstop Dalton Shuffield swung for two base hits during the stretch, but the team hit into double plays each time afterward. ULM sophomore first baseman Michelle Artzberger swung for a two-RBI homer in the top of the second to give the Warhawks a 2-0 lead.

Still, junior starting pitcher Zeke Wood only gave up two hits and three walks aside from the home run while striking out nine through the first five innings, keeping the Warhawks’ advantage from getting out of hand. Senior right-handed reliever Tristan Stivors took over on the mound in the top of the sixth and kept ULM off the board over the next three frames.

The maroon and gold finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Senior second baseman Cameron Gibbons led off with a single, senior centerfielder Isaiah Ortega-Jones laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached on an error and Shuffield added another single to load the bases with no outs. The Warhawks made their first pitching change and a wild pitch in the next at-bat allowed all three runners to advance a base, with Gibbons crossing home for the team’s first run. A sacrifice fly from senior third baseman Justin Thompson brought Ortega-Jones across and a single up the middle from senior designated hitter Wesley Faison plated Shuffield, giving Texas State its first lead at 3-2.

“We always talk about being where our feet are and attacking it one pitch at a time,” Faison said. “There wasn't a lot of panic going on early in the game even though we were struggling at the plate, we knew if we just stayed to our approach that our offense was going to come. Finally, when the big three-spot did hit, it was like there was a little bit of relief.”

The team followed it up with a four-spot in the seventh. Shuffield brought in one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to put the team up 8-2 — he finished the night 3-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Sophomore right-hander Jonathan Martinez closed out the game for the Bobcats, striking out two in the ninth to seal the program’s first tournament victory since 2018. Stivors (7-1) was credited with the win.

Texas State (44-11, 26-4 Sun Belt) will now take on No. 4 seed Louisiana (33-21, 19-11) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals. The winner will play in the conference championship game against the victor of No. 2 seed Georgia Southern versus No. 6 seed Troy.