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San Marcos, Texas – A three-run seventh inning put the Texas State baseball team in front for good as the Bobcats defeated Nicholls, 6-4, at Bobcat Ballpark on Saturday night for the team's fifth consecutive win during Southland Conference play.

The Bobcats trailed throughout much of Saturday's game after a four-run third inning put the visitors in front. But the Bobcats put together three hits and three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to come back for the two-run victory.

Bret Atwood went 3-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and two stolen bases, while Christian Gallegos (2-for-3) added a pair of hits, a run scored and an RBI. Andrew Stumph went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Bobcats.

Kyle Kubitza finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. The two walks gave him 112 for his career, a new Texas State record that puts him ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and Wade Haynes who both had 110 during their careers.

In a matchup of the two most recent Southland Conference Pitchers of the Week, junior Carson Smith got the better of Seth Webster. Smith (8-3) earned his eighth win of the season after striking out nine batters over seven innings while allowing just four hits. The Colonels were able to score four runs off the right-hander, two of which were earned.

Webster (5-3) lost for just the third time this season after allowing five earned runs over 6 1/3 innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked three in addition to allowing nine Texas State hits.

Jeff McVaney, who began the game in left field and went 1-for-2 at the plate with a run scored, came in to pitch the final 1 1/3 innings of the game, striking out two batters and not allowing a hit as he recorded his seventh save of the season. The seven saves are tied for the second most in a single season in Texas State history. Stephen Smith has the all-time saves record at Texas State with eight in 1996.

“Jeff has been very good for us all year,” said head coach Ty Harrington. “He has not pitched much this week after throwing all three games last weekend, so he wasn't as sharp as he normally is. But he's a tough guy and very competitive and got the job done.”

Texas State improved to 32-17 overall and 21-7 in the Southland Conference with the win. The Bobcats remain atop the Southland Conference standings and need just two more wins to clinch at least a share of the Southland Conference regular season title.

Nicholls fell to 23-25 overall and 12-16 in the SLC with the loss.

Texas State scored a pair in the bottom of the second inning after Casey Kalenkosky led off the inning with a single and was followed by McVaney, who took a walk. After a balk from Webster moved the runners up a base, Cody Gambill hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Kalenkosky for the first run of the game. Two batters later, Gallegos singled to left field to bring home McVaney and stake the Bobcats to a 2-0 lead.

However, the Colonels would answer in the top of the third inning with four runs, two of which were unearned after a Texas State error, to take a 4-2 lead.

The Bobcats put another run on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Stumph singled to right field to bring home Kubitza who doubled earlier in the inning for a 4-3 score.

That score would remain until the seventh inning when Texas State would send nine batters to the plate and push three runs across the plate to chase Webster from the game. An RBI bunt single from Atwood started the scoring before Stumph's second RBI single of the game put Texas State back in the lead, 5-4. Kalenkosky then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Atwood to scamper home for a two-run lead, 6-4, that proved to be the final score.

“Whenever we win, we want to enjoy it,” Harrington said. “Wins are not easy to come by and this was no exception. It's a long, difficult process to get these wins, so we always want to enjoy this feeling.”