Bobcats win series against App State

Texas State hosts UTSA tonight in I-35 Rivalry

Texas State kicked off conference play the right way as the Bobcats defeated the App State Mountaineers in two of three games to win the series.

The series win improves the Bobcats record to 11-9 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

“You have to leverage the wins with the losses,” Head Coach Steven Trout said. “A sweep would have been nice after getting swept last week, but there is nothing you can do about it now. You just have to continue stacking winning days and winning weekends, especially in conference. If you can go in and win every conference [series], that is the goal. We have to put our best foot forward on Tuesday then go up to [James Madison] to tackle those guys.”

GAME 1 RECAP: BOBCATS WIN PITCHERS DUEL

In a tightly contested pitchers duel, Texas State came out on top beating App State 3-2 to win the first game of the series.

Starting pitcher Austin Eaton earned his second win of the season, throwing seven innings while allowing just two hits, one earned run, two walks and striking out five batters. Closer Matthew Tippie earned his first save of the season, closing out the bottom of the ninth.

“It was a really good Friday night game to open conference play,” Trout said. “[App State] is a really good team, and they play very well. Austin Eaton threw his best game in a Bobcat uniform just attacking the strike zone and keeping them off balance. … We played really good defense tonight. Lugo made some great plays, Mora had some great plays and we came away with no errors.”

After App State took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, the Bobcats answered back in emphatic fashion in the next at-bat. Catcher August Ramirez connected with a two-run home run to put two runs on the scoreboard and Texas State ahead at 2-1.

The Bobcats extended the lead when first baseman Alec Patino scored on the wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

A solo home run by App State in the top of the ninth made it a one run game before Tippie closed it out, winning the game for the Bobcats 3-2.

GAME 2 RECAP: BOBCATS HAMMER MOUNTAINEERS TO WIN SERIES Trailing 4-0 to start the bottom of the second, Texas State scored 10 unanswered runs en route to a 17-7 run rule win over App State.

Left fielder Daylan Pena led the way for the Bobcats hitting three home runs including two in the same inning. The Bobcats also pounded out 17 hits on the Mountaineers pitching staff.

“[App State] came in swinging and put up four runs early,” Trout said. “Our guys never blinked and came in getting the barrel going. They did a good job of getting good counts and driving the baseball into the middle of the field. Obviously Pena had a huge day on offense with the three homers, which is really hard to do.”

Texas State found themselves in a hole early after App State scored two runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the top of the second inning.

Going into the bottom of the second inning, Pena started the offensive by blasting a lead-off home run to cut the lead down to 4-1.

Following back-to-back singles by August Ramirez and Rashawn Galloway, freshman outfielder Ethan Farris connected with a RBI single down the third base line to make it a 4-2 game.

Ryne Farber gave the lead back to Bobcats in the next at-bat smashing a three-run homer into right center field as the Bobcats took back the lead at 5-2.

The Bobcats continued to put runners on base as Alec Patino and Chase Mora got on base with a walk and single.

Batting back around the order, Pena made a lightning strike twice. The junior connected with a three-run home run to make an 8-4 lead.

“I was just finding good pitches to hit,” Pena said. “Just trusting the game plan and going out there executing.”

Texas State scored two more runs in the third inning to take a commanding 10-4 lead.

App State responded by putting another two runs on the board only for Pena to hit his third homer of the day, a two-run home run into left field, to make it a 12-6 game.

The Bobcats outscored the Mountaineers 5-1 en route to taking the second game and winning the series.

GAME 3 RECAP: BOBCATS BATTLE THE ELEMENTS IN LOSS TO APP STATE The Bobcats took on the Sunday rain storms but were unable to complete the sweep falling to App State 3-2.

The rain storms pushed back the Sunday start time from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. before a lighting delay in the top of the sixth inning paused the game for nearly an hour.

“It was disappointing,” Trout said. “I felt it was a game that was there [for the taking]. We need to find a way to get that done. Anytime you have four hits in a game, you are not going to win a lot of baseball games. Today, unlike the other days, we lost the free 90 battle. Credit to them for making the swing in the big moment.”

Pena took the lead for Texas State in the bottom of the fourth hitting an RBI triple to score Chase Mora and put the Bobcats up 1-0.

App State tied the game in the next at-bat with a RBI single into left field to make it a 1-1 game.

Following the lightening delay, Texas State scored once more. Lugo hit a sac fly deep to right field, scoring shortstop Davis Powell as the Bobcats took a 2-1 lead.

But the Mountaineers had the last laugh connecting with a tworun homer over the wall in center field giving App State the 3-2 win.

LOOKING AHEAD Texas State will host UTSA in the I-35 Rivalry tonight at 6 p.m. in the 102nd meeting between the two rivals.

The Bobcats will then make their first trip out of Texas going to Harrisonburg, Virginia in a conference showdown with the James Madison Dukes.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc