Box Score
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Beaumont, Texas – A balanced offensive attack, timely baserunning and strong pitching led the Bobcat baseball team to a 7-1 victory over Lamar on Friday night at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont, Texas. With the win, Texas State moved into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference with a perfect 7-0 record.
The Bobcat bats were active throughout Friday night's game as the team recorded 15 hits for the game. Texas State was also active on the bases as the team tied its season high with five stolen bases.
Junior Carson Smith (3-1) helped the team improve to 16-5 overall and 7-0 in the Southland Conference after turning in seven innings on the mound without allowing an earned run. Smith lowered his season ERA to 1.80 after allowing just four hits with eight strikeouts.
Lamar's Blake Ford (3-2) was charged with his second loss of the season after allowing five runs in 5 1/3 innings on the mound. The Cardinals dropped to 16-9 overall and 5-2 in the Southland Conference with the loss.
Andrew Stumph finished 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and one run scored, leading four Bobcats who had at least two hits in the game. Cody Gambill (2-for-2), Kyle Kubitza (2-for-3) and Isaac Nuti (2-for-4) each had a pair of hits for Texas State.
Lamar took advantage of a Bobcat fielding error in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead, but Smith would escape the inning after inducing a groundout and striking out a pair to keep the unearned run the only one of the inning.
The Bobcats would trail until the top of the fourth inning when Jeff McVaney started the inning with an infield single and Kubitza followed with a walk to put a pair of runners on base. After Casey Kalenkosky moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, Gambill tripled to the center field wall to bring home McVaney and Kubitza for a 2-1 Texas State lead. Nuti followed with a sharp single through the left side that plated Gambill for a 3-1 advantage for the Bobcats.
Smith would preserve the Texas State two-run lead over the next two innings, limiting the Cardinals to just one hit while keeping them off the scoreboard during the span.
In the top of the sixth, the Bobcats would extend their lead after Gambill started off the inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nuti. Stumph followed with an RBI single to center field and pinch hitter Clint Vest drove a pitch back through the middle to put runners on the corners. Tyler Sibley came up next and extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an RBI infield single to make the score 5-1 in favor of Texas State.
After another scoreless frame from Smith, Texas State added two more in the top of the seventh, highlighted by Stumph's second RBI single of the game to put the Bobcats ahead, 7-1.
Fielding Pittman and Dylan Adamek came in to shut the door on the Cardinals, combining for three strikeouts without allowing a hit over the final two innings to preserve the 7-1 victory.
Texas State and Lamar will return to Vincent-Beck Stadium for game two of the three-game set on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Fans can follow along with live stats through www.TxStateBobcats.com/live_stats or listen in to Lamar's broadcast on www.lamarcardinals.com.
