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San Marcos, Texas – A strong combined pitching performance by five members of the Texas State staff led the Bobcats to a 5-1 victory over Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night at Bobcat Ballpark. The Bobcats improved to 26-11 overall with their third midweek win of the season.
“We had some good pitching tonight,” said head coach Ty Harrington, who earned his 401st career victory. “We had some defensive issues, but we got through it.”
After falling behind 1-0 in the second inning, Texas State came back to take the lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs. Andrew Lacombe singled to right field which brought home Joey Fuda from second base for the first run of the inning before a double from Tyler Sibley brought home Lacombe for a 2-1 Texas State lead.
The Bobcats added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 4-1 lead, and the Texas State pitching staff combined to shut down the Panthers to preserve the lead. Texas State starter Kyle Finnegan, who made his first career start, went three innings and allowed just an unearned run, and Joseph Dvorsky came in for the next three innings, limiting the Panthers to one hit while tying his career high with five strikeouts.
Donnie Hart came in to pitch a scoreless seventh inning, and Garrett Shepperd did not allow a hit in the eighth to keep the Bobcats advantage at 4-1.
Cory Falvey led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a walk and came around to score three batters later when pinch hitter Clint Vest singled through the right side for a 5-1 Texas State lead.
Jeff McVaney came on to pitch the top of the ninth inning and struck out two batters to preserve the four-run Texas State win.
“We have moments when we play well and other moments where we've been lackadaisical,” Harrington said. “We need to get better at being consistent in all areas of the game.”
Finnegan was credited with his first collegiate win after he left the game with a 2-1 lead. The freshman struck out one and scattered three hits in three innings on the mound.
Prairie View A&M (21-17) starter Kellen Simmons fell to 3-4 on the season after allowing two earned runs in four innings for the visitors.
The Bobcats will take Thursday off before returning to Bobcat Ballpark for a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday against McNeese State. Tickets for the game are on sale through the Texas State Athletics Ticket Office.
