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San Marcos, Texas – The Texas State offense never got going on Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats lost to McNeese State, 6-2, at Bobcat Ballpark. The Cowboys jumped in front early and held on for the duration of the game as they handed Texas State just its seventh loss in the Southland Conference this season.
The series finale will be played on Sunday at Bobcat Ballpark at 12 p.m., one hour earlier than the original scheduled time of 1 p.m., due to impending inclement weather.
Texas State (27-16, 16-7 SLC) remains tied for first place in the Southland Conference with Stephen F. Austin, which defeated UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon. McNeese State (21-24, 10-13 SLC) won for the 10th time in conference this season with the victory Saturday.
Jeff McVaney finished the game 1-for-4 with a solo home run for the Bobcats, while Casey Kalenkosky knocked in the other Texas State run with an RBI double. Kyle Kubitza finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk, the 108th of his career. Kubitza is now just two walks away from tying the Texas State record of 110 held by both Paul Goldschmidt and Wade Haynes.
Matt Click (4-5) earned the victory for McNeese State, pitching 8 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs and six hits. He struck out three and walked two on the afternoon.
Mitchell Pitts, who entered the game having given up just one earned run in his last 21 1/3 innings on the mound, was charged with his first loss of the season after allowing five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked just one in falling to 5-1 this season.
The Cowboys took control of the game early on Saturday, scoring a pair of runs in the first off a two-run home run and three in the second as they took a 5-0 lead after three innings.
The Bobcats would chip away in the bottom of the fourth when McVaney hit his seventh home run of the season into the net above the left-field wall for a 5-1 score.
McNeese added an unearned run in the sixth inning for a 6-1 score that would remain until the bottom of the ninth when Joey Fuda came around to score off a double from Kalenkosky for the final tally.
Texas State and McNeese State will play the series finale on Sunday at noon at Bobcat Ballpark.
