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Houston, Texas – The Texas State pitching staff continued its strong start to the 2012 season on Sunday afternoon as the Bobcats shutout Houston, 6-0, to win the weekend series with the Cougars at Cougar Field. The bottom of the Bobcats' lineup did the majority of the damage offensively, while sophomore Kyle Finnegan, junior Louis Head and senior Jeff McVaney combined to throw the team's first shutout of the season.

Finnegan (2-0) lasted six innings on the mound and limited the home team to just five hits. The sophomore struck out four in his second start of the season and improved to 3-0 in starts for his career.

He gave way to Head in the seventh inning who came in to retire the first six batters he faced before a Texas State error allowed the first Cougar hitter of the ninth inning to reach. Head coach Ty Harrington turned to McVaney to record the final three outs of the game for the six-run win.

The Bobcats improved to 4-3 overall this season, while Houston fell to 4-3.

After five scoreless innings, the Bobcats got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning when freshman Ben McElroy doubled down the left field line to bring home Nick Smelser and Cody Perkins for a 2-0 lead. McElroy then came home one batter later when fellow freshman Brooks Orton recorded his first career hit, a single to left field, which increased the Texas State lead to 3-0.

Texas State tacked on one more in the top of the eighth inning when Orton singled through the right side to bring home Smesler from second base for a 4-0 lead.

Morgan Mickan led off the ninth inning with a double down the right field line before stealing third base and coming home on a single from senior Casey Kalenkosky. Later in the inning, Andrew Stumph lined a single to left field that brought home Kalenkosky for the final run of the game.

All nine position player starters for the Bobcats finished with a hit on Sunday afternoon, led by 2-for-3 performances by McElroy and Orton. Both players had two RBIs and McElroy also scored a run for Texas State. Perkins (2-for-5) also scored a pair of runs for the Bobcats, while Smelser finished 2-for-4.