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San Marcos, Texas – Texas State tied a season high with 24 hits as the Bobcats defeated Nicholls, 14-2, on Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark in the team's second game of the day. With the win, No. 1 seed Texas State stays alive in the Southland Conference Tournament to play No. 8 seed Nicholls for a third time on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Saturday will be championship day at Bobcat Ballpark with action kicking off at 9 a.m. when Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi meet for the morning game before the Bobcats and Colonels square off at 1 p.m.
The Southland Conference Tournament championship game will be played at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening between the winners of the two early games. The championship game will be televised in the San Marcos and Austin area on KNVA-TV The CW.
Texas State (38-21) had all nine starting position players record a hit by the fourth inning as eight Bobcats finished with multiple hits, led by sophomore Cory Falvey who went 5-for-6 with an RBI and run scored. The five hits not only mark a career high for Falvey, but also tie a Southland Conference Tournament record. Falvey is the first Bobcat to record five hits in a SLC Tournament game.
Tyler Sibley (3-for-6) had a pair of runs scored and an RBI, Jeff McVaney (3-for-5) added three RBIs and two runs scored and Kyle Kubitza (3-for-6) finished with two runs scored and two RBIs for the Bobcats, who were visitors on the scoreboard for the second game in a row.
Christian Gallegos continued his hot hitting during the tournament with a 2-for-3 night at the plate, while Andrew Stumph (2-for-6), Bret Atwood (2-for-5) and Clint Vest (1-for-4) also got in on the hit parade.
Not to be overshadowed, sophomore Travis Ballew had a career night on the mound for the Bobcats in his seventh career start. He struck out a career-high eight batters while allowing just six hits and a pair of runs. The righty pitched a career-long eight innings as he improved to 4-2 this season in his first career postseason start.
The Bobcats started the scoring in the third inning when Texas State hung a four-spot on the scoreboard. Gallegos started the frame with a single before McVaney doubled over the head of the center fielder to put runners on second and third. Two batters later, Stumph doubled to the wall in center field to plate both runners and put the Bobcats ahead, 2-0. Kubitza then pulled a double down the right-field line to bring home Stumph, and Falvey followed with an RBI single for the team's fifth hit of the inning and a 4-0 lead.
Texas State added three more runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead after McVaney hit an RBI ground-rule double and Kalenkosky followed with a two-RBI double for his team-leading 15th of the season.
The Colonels scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to cut their deficit to 7-2, but the Bobcats answered with four more in the seventh inning to take a nine-run lead heading into the seventh inning stretch, 11-2. Texas State then tacked on three runs in the ninth inning to round out the scoring for a 12-run victory.
The Bobcats and Colonels will play again on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game at 6 p.m.
Friday, May 27
Game Nine: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2, UTSA 1 (UTSA eliminated)
Game 10: Texas State 13, Sam Houston State 2 (7 innings; Sam Houston eliminated)
Game 11: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11, Stephen F. Austin 5
Game 12: Texas State 14, Nicholls 2
Texas State head coach Ty Harrington:
On starting pitcher Travis Ballew's performance: “Travis Ballew was really, really good tonight. When you get into postseason play, people have to step in, particularly when you're battling from the loser's bracket. Ballew had his longest outing of the year, and for it to come at a critical moment for us was huge, there's no question. He attacked everything all night. He got a little bit loose in the 7th, and then found it again, which shows that he was determined, and that he wanted to be out there, and he wasn't going to let fatigue get in the way. It shows the kind of competitiveness and courage he has. It was big for us to get that kind of outing from him, and we're very proud of him.”
On the hitting performance: “We won the game because of our two-out hits tonight. It dated back to the third inning with a two-out rally. Two-out rallies win games because the other team thinks they're about out of it, and then all the sudden it keeps on going. We grinded at-bats all night. I was proud of their efforts, and hopefully they will be willing to get some rest tonight and come back and try again tomorrow.
OF/P Jeff McVaney:
On what got the hitting going tonight: “Sibley's home run still carries over from the previous game since that was still today, but we all started squaring balls up and it was just one after another. Everyone was fired up; everyone was cheering in the dugout, which really gets everything going.
On the significance of the starting pitching over the last few days: “Our starting pitching is out of control right now. It's really great, because it saves a lot of our arms when we need them for the next few games. Travis Ballew did a great job today, and Colton Turner did a great job in the first game also. Any time relievers don't have to go in, it means you're doing pretty well with your starters. It gives me a good chance to concentrate on hitting, and it really works out.”
On the confidence level of the team right now: “I think it's a good boost for us to get three wins in a row, but we're still focused and we know what we have to do. We're not stopping or anything. We have to stay focused, and come out ready to play tomorrow.”
Starting pitcher Travis Ballew:
On where this outing came from: “I had a week off where I haven't started, and only threw three innings. I went out there and was trying to get ahead of hitters. My slider was pretty effective, and I also mixed in some changeups that were very effective. I was just trying to go out there and get ahead.
On the team's performance at the plate, and his performance on the mound: “I was out there trying to throw strikes. I haven't had a long start in awhile. I was getting ahead of hitters. Our pitching staff has been great. The offense turned it around today. I think we had like 45-50 hits today combined, so that's pretty good.”
On when he felt in the groove: “I'd say I felt good when I started out and threw up the 5 zeros, but then when they got the 2 spot, it was a little rough in there. I was a little frustrated with one of those runs that scored, but I was throwing the ball over the plate pretty well. I felt pretty good the whole game. I was getting tired towards the end, since it was the longest outing I've had, so I was out there trying to get ahead of them.”
On the feeling in the dugout right now: “The umpired had to tell us to quit yelling so much, because we were out there cheering guys on. The attitude in the dugout is pretty good, and pretty high-strung right now.”
OF Cory Falvey:
On his career-best 5 hits in tonight's game: “This is my first night like this. I've had nights where I've had at least three hits, four hits maybe, but this is the first time I've ever had 5 hits ever in my whole career.
On what made the offense tick tonight: “The fact that they had beaten us the first game gave us that fire to come back this game and make sure we came back and beat them, so we can keep this going. We don't want to end this season right now. We have a lot of potential on this team. We want to keep this rolling, and hopefully make it far. Our offense just stepped up today, and saw the ball real well and just hit it where it was pitched.”
On coming out tomorrow ready to play well: “We've just got to get it through our heads that we still have to play them tomorrow, and then play another one, and just keep it rolling.”
Nicholls head coach Seth Thibodaux:
On how they approached the end of the game: “The way we play and who we are is that we're going to battle and we're going to battle nonstop.”
On Texas State's performance: “They were determined tonight, from the first pitch of the game. They were very impressive and they refused to lose today and that was their mentality and we didn't match it but we got to tomorrow.”
On tomorrow's elimination game: “We've got to be the aggressor tomorrow and we have to play with some heart and some pride tomorrow to get into the championship game.”
