Box Score

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San Marcos, Texas – Down 11 runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Texas State baseball team made a dramatic comeback with 13 runs over the final two innings to defeat Houston, 17-15, on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark. The comeback was capped off by a walk-off three-run home run from Casey Kalenkosky that gave the Bobcats a two-run victory.

The Bobcats trailed 15-4 entering the bottom half of the eighth inning when Andrew Stumph singled to begin the frame for his fourth hit of the day. That began an eight-run eighth inning for Texas State as the team pounded out seven hits in the inning, including Kalenkosky's first homer of the day which was a three-run shot to bring the team within three, 15-12.

After Bobcat reliever Dylan Adamek pitched a scores top-half of the ninth, the Texas State offense picked up right where it left off in the eighth. Tyler Sibley doubled to start the inning, and Bret Atwood singled to put runners on the corners. Kyle Kubitza followed with a walk to load the bases for Jeff McVaney who came through with a two-RBI single to bring the Bobcats within one, 15-14. Two batters later, Kalenkosky came to the plate and hit a 1-2 pitch high over the wall in left-center field to win the game in walk-off fashion for Texas State.

“From the eighth inning on, we just kept telling our guys to keep playing hard, and they did,” said head coach Ty Harrington.

For Kalenkosky, the two home runs on Saturday bring his season total to a team-high five. The junior first baseman also knocked in a season-high seven runs on Saturday bringing his season total to a team-leading 24.

“In the last at-bat, I was just trying to get something in play,” Kalenkosky said. “He left a slider on the inside half, and I was able to connect with it.”

The Bobcats finished the game with a season-high 24 hits, the team's highest total since March 24, 2009 when they had 31 against Prairie View A&M.

All nine starters had at least one hit for Texas State and eight players had at least two. McVaney (4-for-6, three runs scored, four RBIs) and Stumph (4-for-4, one RBI) each had career-high four-hit games, while Kalenkosky (3-for-6, two runs scored, seven RBIs) and Sibley (3-for-6, three runs scored, one RBI) each had three hits. Sibley also homered for the second time in as many days while extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

Adamek (1-0) picked up his first career win after tossing one scoreless inning, while Houston's Matt Creel (3-1) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs in one inning of work.

After Houston manufactured a run in the top of the first inning on a pair of hits, Texas State came back to tie the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the frame. Sibley was nearly hit by the 1-2 pitch, and two pitches later, the junior roped a pitch from Cougar starter Jordan Lewis over the fence in left field for his third home run of the season.

The score remained tied until the third inning when Texas State strung together five singles to help push three runs across the plate for a 4-1 advantage. McVaney, Kalenkosky and Stumph each had RBI hits in the inning.

Houston retook the lead in the top of the fifth inning after a leadoff double from Austin Gracey turned into  the first of seven consecutive hits for the Cougars as they took a 7-4 lead. Five runs were charged to Pitts and one to Jim McGonigle before Tyler King came in to halt the Houston offense. King induced a double play and a popup to get the Bobcats out of the inning.

King held the Cougars scoreless in the sixth, but Houston again put together a rally in the seventh inning, scoring seven runs to take a 14-4 lead.

After Houston added a run in the top of the eighth, Texas State regrouped scored 13 runs over the final two innings to steal the comeback victory.