Gonzalez walks off against Eagles to avoid series sweep, 10-9

Jose Gonzalez decided how to end one of the longest weeks of his life on his own terms.

With two outs and two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, the junior outfielder drilled a line drive to right field for a walk-off RBI double, helping No. 10 Texas State take a 10-9 win over Georgia Southern.

FINAL @smdrsports #GS 9#TXST 10

Jose Gonzalez (@JGonzalez0815) with a walk-off RBI double to right field to clinch the win and avoid the sweep for the Bobcats pic.twitter.com/vgHBoJO0qf

— Drew King (@drewking0222) April 10, 2022

“That was cool. He worked hard this week,” head coach Steven Trout said. “He made some changes with (volunteer assistant coach Jerry) Cervantez and he had a really good weekend and a different approach this weekend. And I think he's got some confidence rolling and when he gets rolling, it gets scary for (opponents).”

After a road trip to College Station resulted in an 8-4 loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday, Texas State didn’t get back to San Marcos until around midnight. Gonzalez returned to his apartment at Hillside Ranch and went straight to bed, hoping to start the next day off on a better foot.

He woke up Wednesday morning and walked outside to his black Nissan Altima to head to class. But the parking spot he’d left his car in was empty and he didn't see his car anywhere else in the lot.

“I was just absolutely rattled,” Gonzalez said. “I was calling towing companies. I ended up calling the police and they're like, ‘Yeah, it's probably gone. We'll look for it.’”

Gonzalez said he has no idea how the car was stolen. Junior catcher Peyton Lewis acted as his personal chauffeur over the next three days. Gonzalez played in Friday’s game with his car still missing — the Bobcats dropped their series opener to Georgia Southern in 11 innings, 7-4. The Spring native went 1-3 at the plate, hitting the team’s only home run of the game in the fourth inning.

Gonzalez finally got some good news Saturday morning: the police had located the Altima.

“(It was) somewhere in Austin,” Gonzalez said. “I think (the police) caught them while they were driving. Like, literally in the act. So that's pretty crazy. I'm just glad they found it.”

Gonzalez recovered his car before Texas State’s game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. It was still in one piece and nothing had been stolen out of it — he felt extremely lucky.

The Bobcats lost Saturday’s game in a slugfest, 13-11. Gonzalez batted 3-5, crossing home plate once. 

Then, on the 1.4-mile drive from Bobcat Ballpark back to his apartment, Gonzalez was pulled over. The vehicle was still listed as stolen.

“There's like four cop cars and like pulled guns and they're being like, ‘Get on the ground!’ Because obviously, they don't know it's me.” Gonzalez said. “But that was crazy, too. I got put in cuffs and everything. They were like, ‘We just have to make sure.’ And was like ‘It's OK, but I promise you it's my car.’”

The police eventually confirmed Gonzalez was the owner of the car and sent him on his way home. He returned to the ballpark on Sunday hoping to help his team avoid a series sweep against the Eagles.

The two sides traded blows all game long. Gonzalez connected on an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning — one of five runs Texas State scored in the frame — but Georgia Southern returned the favor with a five-spot in the top of the fourth.

The hosts entered the ninth inning clinging to a one-run lead, but surrendered two runs to the visitors to fall behind, 9-8. It left the Bobcats needing one score to keep the game going and another for the win.

Senior centerfielder Isaiah Ortega-Jones led off with a triple that bounced off the right centerfield fence. Senior shortstop Dalton Shuffield followed it up with a sacrifice fly to deep center, plating Ortega-Jones and tying the game.

Freshman first baseman Daylan Pena struck out swinging in the next at-bat. Senior right fielder John Wuthrich was hit by a pitch and senior third baseman Justin Thompson drew a walk, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position with Gonzalez on deck.

“I definitely wasn't trying to do too much,” Gonzalez said. “I knew we had a plan against the pitcher. And I really just stuck to it and I fought, fought, fought. Luckily, he left one over the plate and I was able to get to it.”

In a week that was full of situations out of his control, the junior made the most of the one within his command. Gonzalez zipped the ball into the right field corner on a 2-2 count, bringing Wuthrich around for the game-winning run.

Trout was proud of the way Gonzalez handled himself all throughout the week.

“I told him we're gonna have somebody steal (his car) again so he can get another walk-off hit,” Trout joked.

Texas State (24-9, 9-3 Sun Belt) had won seven consecutive series before losing two games to Georgia Southern (20-11, 8-4). After Sunday’s win, the Bobcats will hope to stay on track when they host Baylor (16-15, 2-7 Big 12) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.