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San Marcos, Texas – Miscues in the pitching game put Texas State behind early and the team was never able to recover as the Bobcats fell 7-2 to Northwestern State on Thursday night at Brown-Stroud Field in the first of a three-game set with the Demons.
Northwestern State needed just four hits through the first four innings to plate seven runs as the Bobcats had four wild pitches and two passed balls during that span to move the Demon runners.
Trailing 7-0 heading to the top of the sixth inning, the Bobcats cut into their seven-run deficit thanks to a long-ball from senior Casey Kalenkosky, his ninth of the season with Sibley on base to make the score 7-2. The home run was Kalenkosky's 30th of his career as he remains second in career home runs at Texas State.
The two-run shot would be the only offense of the day for the Bobcats as Northwestern State pitching limited the Bobcats to just three hits on the evening, two of which came from senior Tyler Sibley.
Sibley set another Texas State career record at the outset of Thursday night's game as he appeared in his 214th career game, one more than previous record-holder Bret Atwood appeared in. Sibley now has career records for games played, runs scored, hits, runs, total bases, doubles and stolen bases.
Northwestern State finished the game with seven runs on seven hits for the game as the Demons kept their Southland Conference Tournament hopes alive with the win. They improved to 19-30 overall and, more importantly, 14-17 in the Southland Conference.
Meanwhile, Texas State (29-22) remains in a tie for third place in the Southland Conference with a 17-14 record in SLC action.
Texas State starting pitcher Travis Ballew (10-4) lasted just five innings as he was dealt his fourth loss of the season. The junior struck out seven but also issued three walks and allowed seven runs (five earned) on the night.
Northwestern State starting pitcher Mason Melotakis (4-4) won his fourth game of the season after limiting the Bobcats to three hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings on the mound.
Game two of the three-game set at Brown-Stroud Field will be played at 6:30 p.m. on Friday when Colton Turner (5-2, 1.93 ERA) takes the mound for the Bobcats.
