March 17, 2007

Final Stats

SAN MARCOS - Texas State freshman centerfielder Laurn Randell went 3-for-5 and scored two runs while Casey Guest hit his second home run of the season as the Bobcats banged out 13 hits in an 8-2 win over Nicholls State Saturday.

With the win, Texas State improved to 15-7 overall and 2-0 in Southland Conference play. Nicholls State dropped to 4-17 and 0-2. The two teams will close out a three-game series to open league play Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bobcat Field.

The Bobcats quickly erased an early Nicholls State lead after Colonel leadoff hitter Thomas Bourne began the game with his first home run of the season.

Thomas Field and Randell led off the first with back-to-back singles. The two runners would move up on a flyout. Field would score on a wild pitch while Randell crossed the plate on the third balk called against the Colonels in the series. After Randell's run, the Bobcats loaded the bases and Jared Bunn scored on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Aaron Fuller. Texas State led 3-1 after one inning.

Guest led off the second with a double down the left field line. Randell would later double to centerfield to drive in Guest. The third double of the inning, this one by David Wood, would score Randell and give the Bobcats a 5-1 lead after two innings.

Guest hit his solo home run in the third to give the Bobcats a 6-1 lead.

Nicholls would add a run in the top of the fifth inning to cut Texas State's lead to 6-2. Keith Kulbeth led off the inning with a base hit. He moved to third on a throwing error by Guest. The Bobcats' second baseman had made a great play to get to a ball hit to the right side of the infield by Thomas Bourne before the throwing error in an effort to get the runner at first. Ryan Bledsoe then tapped a bunt over the head of Wood into shallow right field..

Texas State starter Steven Siers would strike out Brett Hoeflich and get Whitney Dawes to sky a foul fly that Wood caught for the third out, leaving two Colonel base runners stranded. Siers gave up four hits and struck out five while working five innings to improve to 2-0 on the year. Jason Baca pitched three hitless innings before giving way to Josh Walter who worked the ninth.

The Bobcat offense gave the squad some breathing room with two more runs in the seventh.