Powell’s hot bat leads to another Bobcat win

Battling the elements, Texas State pulled through as the Bobcats defeated the Prairie View A&M Panthers, 7-2 Though the win was not perfect, head coach Steven Trout said he was happy to see some players step up during the game despite the weather not wanting to cooperate.

“I thought tonight was okay,” Trout said. “Offensively, we had some barrels in there but at times we weren’t getting our swings off in time and trying to play a bit defensive. Once we started to get it going it was pretty good. Davis Powell had a really good night on offense and defense. Rashawn [Galloway] had a good night and it was great to see Daylan [Pena] hit an oppo bomb.”

Texas State made a splash early in the game as Powell delivered a solo home run towards left field in the first inning as the Bobcats took the lead at 1-0.

Following a scoreless second inning, patient batting at the plate was the key as the Bobcats loaded the bases with a HBP by second baseman Chase Mora, a single by Davis Powell and a forced walk by left fielder Jose Gonzales.

Daylan Pena forced the next walk for Texas State to score a run and extend the lead to 2-0.

A wild pitch by the Panthers added another run for the Bobcats allowing Powell to score and give Texas State a 3-0 lead.

On the defensive side, starting pitcher Peyton Zabel finished his start in the sixth inning allowing just four hits, no runs, one walk and throwing three strikeouts to nab his second win of the season.

“I thought Zabel threw the ball well,” Trout said. “For him, this was another really good moment for him. We will need to have him with a couple of midweek games left. Then in the conference tournament, to win it you need to win four or five games. He is going to be one of those guys that will need to start a game for us.”

Following Zabel’s final inning, the bottom of the sixth saw the Bobcats put the game away as freshman catcher Galloway started the inning with a leadoff single.

After right fielder Cade Manning advanced to first on the bunt single, third baseman Ryan Leary hit the ball through the right side of the infield to score Galloway and extend the lead to 4-0.

Despite the Panthers recording the next two outs, Powell was able to break the game open as a single towards the right side of the field scored both Manning and Leary as Texas State took a commanding 6-0 lead.

Finishing his night going 4-5 at the plate with three RBIs, Powell once again showed why he is one of the more consistent hitters on the team.

“He has been doing this all year,” Trout said. “He has been one of our most consistent players. He has a really good approach, he knows what he is doing, and he gets a good pitch to hit while putting a good swing on it. Defensively he works hard on his defense so he makes a lot of good plays. He made a couple of them tonight on the diamond during the rain which can make it really tough especially on the turf.”

Following up his performance against Troy where he hit a massive two-run RBI single in the ninth inning, Galloway continued his strong performance as well going 3-4 at the plate.

“It’s been good to see,” Trout said. “RaShawn has been one of those guys in the spring that lead the team in hitting. He got his chances in the early part of the season that didn’t go his way and didn’t get the opportunity but now he has gotten after it.”

Texas State tacked one more run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Pena delivered a bomb into right center field which saw the ball bounce off the equipment shed to put the Bobcats up 7-0.

Prairie View A&M tried to pull off the comeback in the 9th inning as the Panthers scored two runs to cut the deficit down to 7-2.

But despite losing the shutout win, the Bobcats got through as Manning pulled off an amazing double play by catching the fly ball before throwing out the runner at home plate in right field for the final out.

Texas State returns to play this Friday against Old Dominion.

First pitch is at 5 p.m.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter@ColtomBMc