Bobcats hot bats lead to sweep of Cardinals

Texas State’s offensive power surge continued as the Bobcats defeated the Incarnate Word Cardinals 10-5 in the final midweek home game of the season.

Though Head Coach Steven Trout was happy about the win, he was not happy with the Bobcat defense, which committed three errors leading to two unearned runs.

“I thought it was OK,” Trout said. “I thought Peyton Zabel threw the ball pretty well, it’s just we didn’t play good defense all night long. That led to some runs and led to him not being able to go as long … but I thought Zabel threw the ball well, and it was really good to see Nathan Medrano get back out there and have success.”

With the Bobcats trailing 3-1 one in the bottom of the third inning, first baseman Daylan Pena delivered a backbreaking moment for the Cardinals as the sophomore hit a three-run home run to give Texas State their first lead of the game at 4-3.

“I caught a fastball when the pitcher went down 2-0,” Pena said. “When the count went to 3-0, I got the green light. I swung at a fastball and it went to left field.”

Pena, who also scored the first run of the game for Texas State with a sac fly in the first inning, has been a major player over the last two games for the Bobcats having made a wall crashing catch against Old Dominion for the final out to stop the Monarchs offensive slugfest and breaking a 10-10 tie in the 10th inning with a RBI single.

“I definitely felt it after Sunday,” Pena said. “But I’m all good now, it’s part of the game. I made the play and helped the pitcher out a bit.”

Though Pena has had a slow start, Trout is proud of the first baseman coming through in the late stretches of the season.

“He is a really good player,” Trout said. “He had some tough luck early in the year, but he is working hard at it. I told him all along that his numbers are going to get back to where they need to be. When he does that, it means this last stretch of the season will be really fun.”

The Bobcats continued their offensive prowess for the third time in their last four games having both double digit runs and double digit hits.

For Trout, the ability to respond to an UIW score was the biggest moment for the Bobcats.

“I thought the offense was really good tonight,” Trout said. “There were a lot of barrels. Whenever they would score, we would respond back, so we kept them from carrying any momentum. We kept finding a way to shut them down and keep scoring.”

One of the reasons for the offense finding their groove over the past four games has been the Texas State hitters staying hungry.

“It’s a competition all around,” Pena said. “Everyone wants to compete and win. When you have everyone through the lineup competing, good things are going to happen.”

Second baseman Chase Mora was one of the batters that had a great night at the plate going 4-5 with two doubles and single along with one RBI.

Mora credits the coaching staff for not only his success but his teammates as well.

“It’s about staying within our approach,” Mora said. “The coaches have been preaching to us about getting our swings off and not missing the pitches we shouldn’t be missing. Last weekend showed that when we get our swings off, we can be really dangerous.”

With the Bobcats heading into the final stretch of the season, the focus for the team will be to improve their fielding.

“The biggest thing for me is that we have to play better defense,” Trout said. “We are not going to win a lot of games for the rest of the season if we continue to have three or four errors in a game. We have to do a good job over the next two days to clean up the mistakes and get ready for this weekend.”

Texas State returns to play this weekend for a three game series against the Georgia State Panthers.

First pitch is Friday Night at 6 p.m. from Bobcat Ballpark.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter@ColtomBMc