Bobcats stunned in 9th by Stanford, ending historic season

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Texas State was just three outs away from its first NCAA regional baseball title. Stanford, though, rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 walk-off victory in a showdown classic. 

Texas State head coach Steven Trout was, understandably, emotional after the devastating defeat.

"What an unreal game," said Trout, who guided the Bobcats to the brink of, what would have been, a historic win. "What those guys have done for our program and our university — these aren't tears of sadness. It's pride. I'm thankful for them, I'm happy for them. I told them before the game, ‘All you do is enjoy it and play as hard as you can. And, at the end of the day, make people fall in love with the Bobcats.’ I think we accomplished that."

The two teams met three times during the regional, the Bobcats with a 5-2 victory on Saturday and the Cardinal taking an 8-4 win on Sunday. Monday's tiff was toe-to-toe, mano-a-mano, good old country hardball. Needless to say, Texas State earned the utmost respect from the Cardinal and its head coach, David Esquer.

"We have a lot of respect for Texas State," Esquer said. "What a quality team. It went right down to the end. They were good and tough on us. We had to dig down deep for a miracle to pull this one out. Coach Trout is a great coach. He had his team really prepared."

For the Sun Belt Conference regular season champs, it began with the courageous performance of senior right-hander Tristan Stivors. The nation's leader in saves with 18, Stivors took the mound to start the game and didn't want to come out.

Stivors went 7.0 innings, fanning nine, giving up a run on 8 hits and throwing 101 pitches.  

"I didn't expect seven (innings) from Stivors," Trout said. "I tried to take him out a couple of times. He kept fighting me to go back in."

For the third straight meeting with Stanford, the Bobcats took the first lead of the game. Senior right fielder John Wuthrich crushed one to deep left centerfield with one out in the top of the second. Cardinal junior centerfielder Brock Jones rushed to the gap — got his glove on the ball — but the ball caromed off for a double. The first of two hits by senior second baseman Cameron Gibbons brought home Wuthrich as the few hundred fans who made the long trip from San Marcos went beserk.

Stanford quickly tied it up on a one-out solo home run by junior catcher Kody Huff in the bottom of the second. The game remained scoreless until that dramatic ninth inning, the Cardinal using six different pitchers in the game. Cardinal freshman Braden Montgomery came in from right field to take the mound to start the eighth inning. Montgomery, who throws consistently in the mid-90s, struck out two of three batters in retiring the side in order. Bobcats junior right-hander Zeke Wood, who started Friday, gave up a hit to Montgomery in a scoreless bottom half of the eighth.

Montgomery, who had looked sharp, suddenly lost control in the top of the ninth. He walked Gibbons, then senior centerfielder Isaiah Ortega-Jones, placing runners on at first and second with no out. Gibbons was able to get to third base, tagging up on a sacrifice fly to right by senior shortstop Dalton Shuffield.

Montgomery struck out the next hitter, bringing up junior left fielder Jose Gonzalez, who had three home runs in the tournament. Esquer opted to intentionally walk Gonzalez to pitch to the senior designated hitter Wesley Faison with the bases juiced.

Faison swung at the first pitch he saw from Montgomery, lining it into center for two runs and a 3-1 Texas State lead. Brandt Pancer (2-0) relieved Montgomery to record the final out of the inning, but the Bobcats were feeling it.

WESLEY FAISON (@wesley_faison) WITH A TWO-RBI GO-AHEAD SINGLE FOR #TXST @smdrsports https://t.co/SSq10akTQl pic.twitter.com/GwMLokua0B

— Drew King (@drewking0222) June 7, 2022

"We knew it was probably going to be a heater," said Trout of Faison's clutch at-bat. "That was what he throwing all night. A plus-plus fastball he had. Faison is more of a flyball hitter. He got on top of it and hit it into the middle of the field. He put a great swing on it. He bought into exactly what we were doing and took the biggest swing of his life."

Wood came out for the bottom of the ninth, but gave up a loud home run to sophomore Drew Bowser, the ball flying over the left field wall. The pro-Stanford crowd got even more crazy when, two pitches later, sophomore Tommy Troy sent one high to left-center. The ball bounced off a camera tower for a home run, tying the game 3-3.

Wood exited in lieu of Levi Wells (8-3), who yielded a single to sophomore Eddie Park, who had a 4-for-4 night. Junior Adam Crampton's sac bunt moved Park to second.

Jones, Stanford's dangerous leadoff hitter, was intentionally walked, bringing up freshman pinch hitter Trevor Haskins. After a wild pitch moved the runners up 90 feet, the freshman Haskins singled into left field to end what had to be one of the greatest games in the long history of Sunken Diamond.

"We executed our game to a 'T'," Trout said. "Some of these guys had to play catch to see if they could throw. Levi (Wells) said, 'Coach, we're in the moment, we're going to make it happen.' That shows a lot of guts. These are the games you prepare to manage your whole life. You just try to hit the right buttons. You go with your guts and you know you can rest at night."

The Bobcats, who will lose many quality players to the draft and graduation, can rest assured they made their mark this season on the landscape of college baseball.

Stanford Regional All-Tournament Team
As selected by media members

C – Kody Huff (STAN)
1B – Carter Graham (STAN)
2B – Nick Roselli (BING)
SS – Adam Crampton (STAN)
3B – Drew Bowser (STAN)
OF – Jose Gonzalez – (TXST)
OF – Edde Park (STAN)
OF – Nick Vogt (UCSB)
DH – Tommy Troy (STAN)
P – Tristan Stivors (TXST)
P – Quinn Matthews (STAN)

Most Outstanding Player: Eddie Park (STAN)