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San Marcos, Texas – Junior right-handed pitcher Carson Smith delivered an impressive performance on the mound for the Bobcats Friday evening at Bobcat Ballpark, tallying 13 strikeouts for a new career high to give Texas State a 5-2 win.
“I was certainly pleased with how he pitched tonight,” Harrington said. “He had good movement on his pitches and looked like the guy we had much of last year.”
The strikeout total was the second highest in Texas State history, the first being held by William Brunson, who struck out 14 on Feb. 12, 1991 against Texas A&M.
“He had good change-up command tonight, which I thought was key,” Harrington said. “He really wanted to finish because he's that competitive, but his pitch was getting too high.”
With the win, Texas State moved to 27-15 (16-6 SLC) while McNeese State dropped to 20-24 (9-13). Texas State now holds sole possession of first place in the conference after a Stephen F. Austin loss to Texas-Arlington on Friday.
Smith earned the win for the Bobcats, pushing his record to 6-3 on the season while McNeese State's Phil Parcell recorded the loss, dropping his record to 3-3. Smith went 8 1/3 innings with 13 strikeouts, four hits, three walks and two runs before Jeff McVaney earned his third save of the season.
The Bobcats began their attack in the bottom of the second with a walk by Casey Kalenkosky. Two batters later, Cory Falvey singled into right field to advance Kalenkosky to third. Clint Vest followed Falvey and reached first base on a fielder's choice, scoring Kalenkosky.
A walk by Isaac Nuti loaded the bases for Texas State, putting veteran Bret Atwood at the plate for the Bobcats. A single by Atwood along the left field line scored Falvey and Vest to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead through two innings.
After four innings, Smith had five strikeouts and only had given up one hit in the process. In the top of the sixth, Smith continued his dominant performance, pushing his strikeout count to eight for the evening with only two walks and one hit.
The Cowboys got a lead-off single in the top of the seventh from left fielder Seth Granger. However, Granger was unable to round the bases with two strikeouts from Smith to end the inning.
The Bobcats scored their fourth run of the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning with a stand-up double by Andrew Stumph, scoring Kalenkosky for his second run of the game after his single into right field. Falvey brought in Stumph after a single into the gap in left field, giving the Bobcats a 5-0 advantage.
“I thought that Stumph's two-out double was a defining moment of the game,” Harrington said. “Then we got another RBI single after that, which was big for us.”
The Cowboys rallied in the ninth when Jace Petersen recorded an infield single. Granger kept the momentum going with a walk before Renny Weber added another hit for the Cowboys to load the bases.
McNeese State put their first run on the board when Eubanks singled to right field to bring in Petersen. The Cowboys would score their final run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Drake to score Granger.
The Bobcats will be in action again on Saturday, April 30 at 2 p.m. in game two of the series against McNeese State.
