April 1, 2005

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - Northwestern State used three runs in the final four innings of play Friday night to hand Texas State a 4-3 Southland Conference loss and keep its own SLC record perfect through seven games.

Texas State jumped all over the Demons early, scoring in the first inning on a wild-pitch strike out that brought home Dominic Ramos and put runners at the corners with no outs. Nolan Mast, who reached on the wild pitch, stole second, which was then followed by a balk by Northwestern State starting pitcher Daniel Lonesberry.

The balked pitch scored Kyle Anson from third and moved Mast over from second. It also brought Demon head coach Mitch Gaspard out of the dugout to argue, and the Northwestern State skipper was eventually tossed by home-plate umpire Steve Curran.

Northwestern State waited until the fourth inning to get on the scoreboard, notching a single run on an error by Ramos. Texas State quickly answered in the home half of the fourth when Elliott Babcock came home on an errant pick-off attempt at first base.

The Demons were able to tie the game in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs on a single up the middle by Bobby Barbier. The Bobcats left a runner on base in the home half of the sixth, two runners on in the seventh and two more in the eighth, leaving the game tied 3-3 going into the top of the ninth.

Hunter Thomas led off the Demon ninth with a walk, and was put out at second on a fielder's choice bunt by Rusty Jones. Marty Dewees followed that with a single to center, and Michael Palermo loaded the bases by drawing the second walk of the inning by Bobcat reliever Chris Hill.

With the bases loaded and two away, Hill gave a free pass to Northwestern State second baseman Brandon Morgan, which plated the go-ahead run from third. Hill got out of the inning with a bases-loaded ground ball, but the damage had been done by the Demons.

Luke Cannon gave Texas State a glimmer of hope in the ninth by leading the inning off with a double into left. Kyle Jones then smashed the first pitch he saw into right center, but Miles Durham came up with the catch to record the inning's first out. Jared Bunn struck out swinging for the inning's second out, bringing Babcock to the plate.

The Bobcat freshman outfielder laced a ball into right field, and Cannon came racing around third base. Durham put his throw on the money and Dewees, the Demon catcher, blocked home plate perfectly as Cannon was gunned down to end the game.

Anson and Babcock turned in the only Bobcat multi-hit games, with Anson going two-for-four with a walk, a double and a run scored. Babcock was two-for-five at the plate with a double and a run scored. Though the Bobcats scored three runs in the game, none were marked as RBIs for Texas State hitters, as two of the runs came from errors and one came from a wild pitch.

Scott Moore pitched seven innings for the Bobcats, giving up three runs (two earned) and striking out six. Hill gave up one run in his two innings pitched.

Hill took the loss for the Bobcats, dropping his record to 1-1, and Texas State fell to 19-11 overall and 4-3 in Southland Conference play. The Northwestern State win went to Daniel Desclouds, pushing his record to 2-1 and the Demons to 22-9. The win also kept Northwestern State atop the SLC standings with a perfect 7-0 record.

Texas State and Northwestern State will hit the diamond again Saturday, with first pitch slated for 3:00 p.m., at Bobcat Field.