Box Score
Box Score (PDF)
Texas State Tournament Page
San Marcos, Texas – The Texas State baseball team fell 12-8 on Saturday afternoon to visiting Missouri State in front of 1,540 fans at Bobcat Ballpark on day two of the Texas State Tournament. The Bobcats overcame an early deficit with a seven-run third inning, but the Bears responded with a pair of three-run frames to capture the four-run victory.
Junior Tyler Sibley led the Texas State offense with a 3-for-4 day that included a walk, run scored and two RBIs. Senior Bret Atwood also had a multi-hit game for the Bobcats, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate.
Nick Petree earned the victory for Missouri State after pitching six innings of one-run ball in relief of MSU starter Pierce Johnson. Freshman Scott Grist took the loss for Texas State after he went one and 1/3 innings in relief of Bobcat starter Lee Colon.
Missouri State jumped out to a 4-0 lead after an inning and a half before the Bobcats got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second when Sibley took a bases loaded walk to bring home Andrew Stumph from third base.
The Bears stretched their lead to 6-1 after their half of the third inning, but the Bobcats would respond with seven runs in the bottom half of the frame to take their first lead of the game.
The first six Texas State batters reached base to start the third as the Bobcats used four singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to close the gap to 6-5 and chase Missouri State's starter from the game. Two batters later, Sibley and Atwood hit back-to-back singles and then a Kyle Kubitza groundout gave the Bobcats a 7-6 lead. With Casey Kalenkosky at-bat and runners on the corners, Bobcat head coach Ty Harrington called a delayed double steal that was well-executed with Sibley taking home to cap off the seven-run inning and put the team ahead 8-6.
The Bobcats (1-1) maintained a two-run advantage until the fifth inning when Missouri State (1-2) capitalized on a Texas State error to score three runs and retake the lead, 9-8.
It looked like Texas State would again respond in the bottom of the fifth as the Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs, but Kalenkosky's liner up the middle was snagged by Petree to halt the rally and keep the Bears in front.
Sophomore Travis Ballew entered in the sixth inning for the Bobcats and struck out three Bears over the final four innings. Ballew held the Bears to just three hits, but the last of the three cleared the right-field fence for a three-run homer that made the score 12-8 and proved to be the final margin.
Texas State returns to the field on Sunday, February 20 at 7 p.m. when the team takes on Air Force in the finale of the Texas State Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark.
