April 17, 2010

Final Stats

Hammond, Louisiana - Southeastern Louisiana put the tying run on base in the bottom of the eleventh, but Garret Carruth earned his third win of the season warding off the foe with a fanned batter and a groundout straight off his chin to hand Texas State a 12-10 extra-inning victory over the 23rd-ranked foe Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Carruth entered in the eighth with a 10-9 lead and retired two batters to line himself up for his sixth save of the season, but Jeff Harkensee took the seniors first pitch in the ninth over the right field wall to tie the game. Carruth allowed just two more hits over the next two innings, closing out the day with a 3 2/3 effort and a pair of strikeouts.

"It was an unbelievable effort on his part," said assistant coach Derek Matlock. "He wanted the ball and showed how much he wanted the win for the team, lying out and finishing the game after being hit."

Prior to threat, Jeff McVaney came through for Texas State in the top half of the eleventh, driving in Bret Atwood who reached on his lone single of the afternoon, with a triple off the right center wall. Kyle Kubitza followed up with an RBI double to tack on cushion.

SLU sprouted a 5-1 lead through two innings thanks to a pair of two-run homers from Justin Boudreaux. Jason Martinson helped trim the margin to 5-3 with a two-run single into right field that improved his hit streak to 21-straight games. The mark ties a Texas State school record set by Terrence Moore in 1999.

Michael Russo sat the Lions down in order in the third and a double play in the fourth maintained the edge. Russo went 5.2 innings with one strikeout in the no decision, surrendering seven earned runs off 10 hits.

With SLU close, the Bobcats rallied in the fifth with Christian Gallegos, in his first-career start, putting a leadoff single up the middle. The freshman took second on a wild pitch and utilized Randell's deep fly out to right to take third base with one out. Tyler Watkins struck out both Bret Atwood and Jason Martinson, but Martinson's ball slipped past Chad Gough-Fortenberry and a passed ball allowed Gallegos to cross and put the shortstop on first to start the rally with two outs.

Jeff McVaney, who belted a solo homer in the second, put a base hit into centerfield to push Martinson to third and call for SLU to make changes on the mound. Josh Janway took over, but Kyle Livingstone delivered a two-run double to tie the game and Kyle Kubitza paid it forward with a double to bring in the senior for the lead. Clint Vest topped off the innings with an RBI single up the middle, giving the Bobcats an 8-5 advantage.

The Lions fought back with back-to-back two-run innings, and Texas State remained close with a run in both the sixth and seventh frame.

Livingstone led Texas State at the plate with a 4-for-6 effort, while McVaney and Kubitza added three hits in the Bobcats 19-hit outing. SLU managed 14 hits, led by Harkensee's 4-for-6 game.

Chris Franklin took the loss for SLU, allowing two runs off seven hits in his three innings on the mound.

The series finale is set for tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. Texas State remains in first place in the Southland Conference standings.