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Natchitoches, La. – Jeff McVaney had a career day in the last regular season game of his career as he led the Bobcats to a 10-4 victory over Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon at Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches, La. With the win, Texas State won its fifth consecutive Southland Conference series and secured the No. 3 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament.

The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 31-22 overall record and 19-14 mark in the Southland Conference. Texas State will play No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the tournament at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23.

McVaney finished Saturday's game with a career-high five hits to go along with five RBIs, a run scored and two stolen bases. The senior upped his batting average to .332 for the season and now has a team-high 42 RBIs in 2012.

In addition to McVaney's performance at the plate, the Texas State bullpen came through with a strong showing as seven relievers combined to hold Northwestern State to just one run over the final five innings of the game.

Hunter Lemke's two innings on the mound highlighted the bullpen's effort as the sophomore struck out four batters on the afternoon. The righty earned his first win of the season, improving to 1-0 in 2012.

“I was proud of the way the bullpen pitched,” said head coach Ty Harrington. “I thought Hunter was really good. I was proud of him. There was a lot of good things that came out of today's game pitching-wise.”

The Bobcats were especially aggressive on the basepaths Saturday afternoon as the team recorded a season-high eight stolen bases. Morgan Mickan, Colby Targun and McVaney all had two stolen bases on the day while Isaac Nuti and Garrett Mattlage each had one.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Texas State found itself behind 4-3 in the top of the sixth. That's when the Bobcats put together a five run frame to take an 8-4 lead and never look back. Cody Gambill's pinch-hit RBI double tied the game at 4-4 before Mattlage roped a two-RBI double that gave the visitors a 6-4 advantage. Three batters later, McVaney hit a 2-RBI double that put the Bobcats in front by four, 8-4.

Texas State added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning to secure the team's 31^st win of the season and eliminate Northwestern State from Southland Conference Tournament contention. The Demons finished the season with a 19-32 overall record and 14-19 mark in the SLC.