Box Score

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Beaumont, Texas – The Texas State baseball team was dealt its first conference defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Lamar Cardinals came back from one-run deficit in the seventh inning to take a 7-6 victory over the Bobcats at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

Texas State, which began the Southland Conference season with seven consecutive wins, fell to 7-1 in the Southland Conference and 16-6 overall with the loss, while Lamar improved to 17-9 overall and 6-2 in the SLC.

Shane Hamaker (4-2) earned the victory for Lamar after pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, and Fielding Pittman (1-1) was charged with his first loss of the season after allowing a pair of runs in two innings on the mound.

Junior Tyler Sibley (2-for-4) reached base four times and scored three runs as he extended his hitting streak to 25 games dating back to last season. Sibley has hit safely in all 20 games he has played in this season. Cory Falvey (2-for-4) also had a pair of hits, and Jeff McVaney (1-for-3) hit a home run for the Bobcats.

The Cardinals seized the early momentum and threatened to take a big lead in Saturday's game, but the Bobcat defense and starting pitcher Mitchell Pitts limited Lamar to just two runs over the first three innings thanks to three inning-ending double plays. Lamar put runners on the corners with one out in the first inning and loaded the bases with one out in the second before the Bobcats turned double plays in both innings to escape with just a two-run deficit.

The Bobcat offense came to life in the top of the third when Sibley hit the first pitch he saw the wall in left-center field for a leadoff triple, and Clint Vest followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Sibley for a 2-1 Lamar lead. That lead would not last long as the next batter, McVaney, hit a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall for his third home run of the season, tying the game a 2-2.

In the top of the fourth, Texas State kept the pressure on the home team with a two-out rally that scored three runs for a 5-2 Bobcat lead. With runners on first and second, Vest singled to left field to bring home Joey Fuda from second base for the first run of the inning. After McVaney walked to load the bases, Casey Kalenkosky sharply hit a grounder that was mishandled by the Lamar shortstop, allowing a pair of runs to cross the plate.

Lamar came back in the bottom of the fifth to score three runs and tie the game at 5-5 heading into the top of the sixth inning when the Bobcats would retake the lead. A pair of leadoff walks followed by a sacrifice bunt from McVaney set up Kalenkosky for an RBI groundout that gave the Bobcats a 6-5 advantage.

But Lamar would come back and score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 7-6 lead, and the Bobcats were unable to mount another comeback as the team dropped the one-run decision.