March 7, 2005

Final Stats

ROUND ROCK - After two quiet offensive games in Round Rock, Texas State's bats got their wake-up call Monday night at The Dell Diamond.

Texas State jumped on Notre Dame from the beginning, scoring four runs in the top of the first on the way to a 10-5 win in the final game of the Maxwell Auto Group Round Rock College Classic.

The game started with Dominic Ramos drawing a lead-off walk, stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Nolan Mast then hit a sharp grounder to the pitcher, which was snagged and thrown over the head of the first baseman, allowing Ramos to score.

Texas State would continue with runs from Kyle Jones and Kyle Anson on Jose Rodriguez's two-RBI single, along with an Elliot Babcock fielders' choice that plated Nolan Mast.

Notre Dame got on the board in the bottom of the first, and again in the second, cutting Texas State's lead to two after two innings.

Texas State would extend the lead to four in the sixth inning when Jones drove a pitch into center field for a single that brought home Mast and Dawid Bednarek.

In the Bobcat seventh started with a Cassidy Dresch single in to the gap in left center, bringing Cody Ross to the plate. Ross slipped the ball down the right field line and motored all the way around to third, scoring Dresch. Ramos would follow with an infield hit, leaving runners at the corners for Mast. The Bobcat second baseman pulled the ball down the left field line for a double and advanced to third on the play at the plate, which scored Ross and Ramos. Anson ended the Bobcat scoring in the seventh by driving a pitch into right field that would score Mast from third.

The Fighting Irish made things interesting in their half of the seventh, scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly and an RBI-single, and would follow in the eighth with one more run on another RBI-single with a runner in scoring position.

Texas State's offense came to life from top to bottom, as each Bobcat starter recorded at least one hit in the game. Mast was the main spark for Texas State, going three-for-six with two runs batted in and three runs scored. Dresch also saw a nice day at the plate, batting three-for-five with a run scored. In addition to Mast's two RBI day, Jones and Rodriguez each drove home a pair of runs while Ross, Babcock and Anson were each responsible for one Texas State RBI.

Ryan Bennett got the win for Texas State, improving his record to 3-1. Notre Dame's Jeff Manship took the loss, and the Irish fell below .500 for the first time this season. Notre Dame was paced offensively by Craig Cooper, who went three-for-five with a run scored and Mike Dury, who was two-for-four with two runs batted in. Matt Edwards also went two-for-five and drove home one run for Notre Dame.

With the win, Texas State improves to 12-5 on the year. The Bobcats' next action comes Friday, in game one of a three-game series at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Bobcats were originally scheduled to play Texas Southern on Tuesday, but that game has been postponed and will be made up at a later date. First pitch for game one with the Islanders in Corpus Christi is slated for 2 p.m., Friday.