Bobcats pick up two wins to take road series over Mavericks

No. 19 Texas State Baseball won its opening pair of games against UT Arlington to clinch the series against the Mavericks on the road.

The Bobcats began the series on Thursday in Arlington with a 6-1 victory. A wild pitch from junior right-handed starter Zeke Wood allowed UTA to bring a runner across from third in the bottom of the first inning for the first score of the game but the maroon and gold pitching staff shut the hosts out the rest of the way.

The visitors tied the game up in the next frame, as senior designated hitter Wesley Faison grounded out with runners on the corners to plate senior right fielder John Wuthrich from third base. Texas State was held scoreless across the next four innings but opened the floodgates on the Mavericks in the final three.

A two-RBI triple from junior catcher Peyton Lewis in the top of the seventh broke the scoreless streak, giving the Bobcats their first lead of the game. Senior second baseman Cameron Gibbons laid down a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat to score Lewis and extend the lead to 4-1. Senior shortstop Dalton Shuffield reach second base on a throwing error in the top of the eighth and advanced to third on a single from junior left fielder Jose Gonzalez in the next at-bat. A sac fly from Wuthrich allowed Shuffield to tag up and bring in another run.

The maroon and gold added one more insurance run in the ninth as Gibbons reach first on a throwing error and made it all the way around on a fielding error in the next plate appearance to seal the series opener for Texas State, 6-1. Wood (3-1) received the win while lasting 7.2 innings on the mound, allowing one hit, four walks and one earned run while striking out six. Junior right-hander Triston Dixon closed out the final 1.1 innings, giving up just one hit while striking out three and keeping UTA from scoring.

The Bobcats connected on 14 hits the next day, clinching the series win. But the visitors left 11 runners on base during the game, allowing the Mavericks to keep the margin closer in a 5-3 loss.

A sacrifice fly by Gonzalez allowed senior left fielder Ben McClain to tag up for the opening run of the game in the top of the first and freshman first baseman Daylan Pena swung for an RBI single later in the frame to give Texas State a 2-0 lead. The hosts got a run back in each of the second and third innings, though, knotting the score up at 2-2.

Shuffield used another sacrifice fly to plate senior centerfielder Isaiah Ortega-Jones in the top of the sixth, but UTA matched it in the bottom frame, keeping it tied at 3-3. Neither team scored in the next two innings, leaving the game hanging in the balance heading into the ninth.

Gonzalez and senior third baseman Justin Thompson led off with a pair of singles and a flyout by Wuthrich allowed Gonzalez to tag up from second to third, putting runners on the corners. Pena reached on an error, scoring Gonzalez for the go-ahead run and moving Thompson to second. Another base hit from Gibbons loaded the bases for the Bobcats with two outs and Ortega-Jones added an RBI single to score Thompson, pushing the maroon and gold ahead 5-3. Senior closer Tristan Stivors retired the Mavericks in order in the final frame to claim victory in the game and the series. Stivors picked up his team-leading fifth win in a 2.0-inning performance, surrendering just one hit while fanning four and moving to 5-1 on the year.

Texas State (27-9, 11-3 Sun Belt) will look for the series sweep over UTA (11-24, 4-10) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The team will return to San Marcos on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against I-35 rival UTSA (23-11, 8-5 Conference USA) inside Bobcat Ballpark at 6 p.m.