Four late runs propel Texas State past ULM

Ty Harrington doesn’t believe Texas State is hitting on all cylinders on offense. 

The Bobcat head coach knows his team can be better than it has been. But on Friday, Texas State displayed enough offense to get past Louisiana-Monroe. The Bobcats brought home four runs in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat the Warhawks, 5-1, in front of a light crowd of 1,178 inside Bobcat Ballpark.  

“Offensively, we haven’t hit our stride yet,” Harrington said. “I thought their (pitcher, Trey Jeans,) did a good job of pitching against us. We didn’t hit him hard last year either. So, I thought he did a good job of pitching against us. But we haven’t really clicked on all cylinders in a while.”

Texas State (13-9, 2-2 Sun Belt) took an early 1-0 lead over ULM (7-14, 0-4) in the first inning. The Bobcats received back-to-back one-out walks from junior second baseman Jaxon Williams and senior third baseman Jaylen Hubbard to start the offensive threat. Redshirt junior left fielder Will Hollis hit an RBI double to score Williams. 

The Warhawks evened the score with a solo home run by senior second baseman Joey Jordan in the third inning. ULM put pressure on the Bobcats with runners on second and third with two outs. But junior right-handed pitcher Nick Fraze worked out of the jam to keep the game tied. 

Both teams went cold until the seventh inning. Texas State used RBI singles from sophomore shortstop Dalton Shuffield and Williams to go on top 3-1. 

ULM threatened in the top of the eighth with runners on first and second and no outs. But a baserunning mistake and a 4-6-3 double play got Texas State out of the frame unscathed. 

The Bobcats extended their lead to 5-1 with a sac fly from senior first baseman Ryan Newman and an RBI squeeze bunt from senior center fielder Jacob Almendarez. 

The Warhawks, again, looked poised to bring home runs in the top of the ninth with runners on first and second and one out. But an excellent diving grab from Newman and a strikeout from junior right-handed pitcher Zach Leigh ended the game. 

“I thought we played really, really superb defense,” Harrington said. “I thought they hit some balls really hard tonight and in the ninth inning with two guys on (Ryan) Newman makes an unbelievable play. That ball was hit hard. But I thought we pitched well and played good enough defense tonight and we were able to score late.”

Fraze secured the win on the mound. He struck out four and only allowed one run on three hits in seven innings of work. 

“I thought that Nick Fraze, whose last two times out hasn’t been the Nick Fraze that we know, I thought tonight he gave himself a little better shot at that. I thought he was good tonight,” Harrington said. “I thought he was really competitive. I think he’s even sharper than what he showed tonight but he showed that he was competitive.” 

Texas State’s three-game series against ULM continued Saturday. The game ended after press time. The Bobcats play the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. They'll continue to try and find their groove on offense. 

“We’ve got to continue to really grow and we’re capable of being a better offensive team than what we’ve been so far,” Harrington said. “I don’t know if everyone is pressing. You know, I can’t get inside their minds all the time. You can read body language. You can read practice habits. You can do different things but it’s really a challenge to get inside these kids’ heads and find out what’s going through them. We’re going to keep working.”