March 3, 2009
Final Stats
GALLERY
SAN MARCOS - In the record books, Tuesday night will go down as a hard-fought loss against the number four-ranked University of Texas, but for Texas State University, it represented so much, much more.
It was a historic night in so many ways as a capacity of crowd of 2,593 fans were on hand to watch the Bobcats play their first home game of the 2009 season at a newly-renovated Bobcat Stadium. The renovations include new seats, the addition of suites and a new press box for both the baseball and softball stadiums. It also has a new ticket office, new concession stands and restrooms to make each home game a pleasant experience for Bobcat fans. In addition, there is a walkway between the two stadiums that gives areas for even more fans to stand and watch the game with a great deal of pride and comfort never felt at the baseball and softball stadiums before.
The special day began with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony that included former Texas State graduate and current Texas State System chancellor Charles R. Matthews, University president Denise Trauth, athletic director Larry Teis along with head baseball and softball coaches Ty Harrington and Ricki Woodard cutting the ribbon to officially open the Bobcat Baseball and Softball Stadiums.
"This has been such a special moment for me and Texas State," said head coach Ty Harrington. "We've waited for so long for this and honestly, I just really didn't know how to respond to it. I was nervous, anxious and excited all at the same time."
Despite Harrington's anxiety, the Bobcats gave the Longhorns all they could handle for the first six innings before eventually falling 6-5.
Texas State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first two innings when the Bobcats took advantage of some miscues by the Longhorn infield.
The first run came across the plate in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hitter Tyler Sibley was hit by a pitch, reached second when Paul Goldschmidt walked and scored the first run of the game when Texas shortstop David Hernandez misplayed a ball hit by designated hitter Keith Prestridge.
The Bobcats scored two more runs in the second inning when Ben Theriot doubled down the right field line and scored on Adam Witek's single up the middle. After Jason Martinson singled to left field, Sibley drove in Witek from third with a single to right field.
The Longhorns came back to score three runs in the top of the fourth inning with some timely hitting off Texas State starter Michael Russo. Brandon Belt opened the inning with a single to right field and Michael Torres followed with a single through the right side.
Russo appeared to be on his way out of the jam when he struck out the next two hitters, Tant Shepherd and Kevin Keyes, but he walked Cameron Rupp to load the bases. Hernandez drove in two runs with a single to center field and Connor Rowe drove in Rupp with a single through the right side to tie the score at 3-3.
Texas State regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Hernandez bobbled a ground ball by Witek, allowing two unearned runs to score. Witek scored the first run following a sacrifice bunt by Martinson and Atwood hit an RBI single to left center. After Goldschmidt singled up the middle to advance Atwood to third, Dennis reached on an infield hit to second base allowing Atwood to score and give the Bobcats a 5-3 lead.
The Longhorns countered with a solo homer by Belt in the top of the seventh and scored two more decisive runs in the eighth inning to regain the lead. Keyes began the two-run rally with a walk off Tyler Brundridge. Tim Maitland came in to run for Keyes and advanced to second when the right-hander was called for a balk. After Brundridge struck out Preston Clark, Hernandez reached on an error by Martinson, allowing Maitland to advance to third. Russell Moldenhauer hit a single to left to score Maitland and Travis Tucker singled up the middle to drive in Hernandez to give the Longhorns the lead for good.
Texas State tried to start a comeback with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Hernandez misplayed a line drive by Laurn Randell. But, Austin Wood fielded a grounder by Theriot to end the game and drop Texas State's record to 6-3 with Brundridge taking a hard-luck loss after giving up two unearned runs in 1.3 innings on the mound.
The Bobcats outhit Texas 10-9, but left 11 runners on base. Atwood went 2-for-5 with a RBI single to lead Texas State, while Hernandez went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and one run scored to lead the Longhorns, who improved to 10-0 this season. Austin Wood picked up the win and improves to 3-0 this season after giving up one hit and no runs in the final 3.1 innings.
"I am proud of the way we played tonight," added Harrington. "The effort and courage we put out there were great. You have to learn to play through adversity and learn to use it to your advantage. That is one thing we will work on and try to continue to improve upon throughout the season."
Despite the loss, Tuesday is a day that more than 2,000 Bobcat fans will never forget. The Bobcats return to their newly renovated stadium this weekend when Texas State plays host to Purdue in a three-game series on Mar. 6-8. The series begins Friday night with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
