Box Score

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – A three-run homer from Nick Smelser in the eighth inning nearly sparked a comeback bid in Texas State's second game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, but the Bobcats fell just short in a 7-5 loss to Dallas Baptist Friday.
 
With the loss, Texas State needs Dallas Baptist to lose to New Mexico State in the 3 p.m. game on Saturday for any chance to advance to championship Sunday. If the Bobcats can get that help, they'll be playing for the right to go to the WAC Championship game in the 7 p.m. Saturday game against UT Arlington.
 
Trailing, 7-2, in the top of the eighth inning, Texas State gave fans hope. Austin O'Neal was the first to reach base in the inning, when he went to first on an error. Matt Smith singled to left field after that to put two runners on for Smelser. The senior third baseman, without a hit on the day to that point, knocked his second home run of the season and the third of his career to put the Bobcats back in the game in a hurry. Unfortunately, Texas State couldn't get anything going after that.
 
The top of the lineup struggled against Dallas Baptists pitchers Jake Johansen and Aaron Gilbreath. The top four batters finished the day 2-for-20 with both hits coming from Colby Targun. In fact, Garrett Mattlage and Kevin Sah saw streaks of 32 and 25 games respectively in which each player had reached base come to an end Friday.
 
O'Neal stood out though, pacing the Bobcats in hits on a 3-for-4 day while also scoring a run. Tyler Pearson was 2-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to 12 games while Smith and Ben McElroy both notched a hit. Smith earned an RBI and scored once while McElroy scored twice.
 
Dallas Baptist scored in the first inning, but Texas State was able to respond with a run in the top of the second. The Bobcats loaded the bases on three consecutive singles from McElroy, O'Neal and Pearson. With bases loaded, Morgan Mickan sent a sacrifice fly to left centerfield for an RBI to tie the game, 1-1.
 
The Patriots would answer back in the bottom of the inning when two singles and an error led to a run. After that, a hit by pitch loaded the bases. From there, though, Taylor Black worked his way out of trouble. He induced a grounder and caught the leadoff runner on the force play at home. He struck out the next batter and forced a lineout to third base for the final out of the inning to limit DBU's scoring to just one run and a one-run lead, 2-1.
 
Dallas Baptist added another run in the fourth inning, but the Patriots found their big inning in the fifth. And they did work against three different TXST pitchers. Black walked the leadoff hitter, then Texas State brought in Covey Morrow for the lefty-lefty matchup against Duncan McAlpine. Morrow fell behind early, 3-0, but worked the count full with a called strike followed by a swinging strike. McAlpine, however, sent the next pitch to shallow centerfield for a double. Mickan tried for an outstanding diving play, but couldn't corral the hit.
 
With two runners on and no outs, Texas State called in Scott Grist. Patriot catcher Michael Miller waited until the fourth pitch with a 2-1 count, but then he launched a home run over the left field fence for three RBI and a 6-1 DBU lead. The Pats added one more run before Texas State could end the inning to gain a 7-1 lead.
 
Texas State was able to close the gap by one run in the sixth. McElroy led with a walk and worked his way around the bases on a single from O'Neal, a walk from Pearson and a groundout from Smith, pinch hitting for Mickan. After that, it was quiet until Smelser round tripper in the eighth.
 
Texas State and No. 2 UT Arlington will play at 7 p.m. Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether anything will be on the line for that game. The Bobcats need NMSU to take down Dallas Baptist, then a win over UTA would clinch a spot in the championship game as Texas State would own the head to head tie breaker over UTA and, in the case that New Mexico State also beats UTA Friday, Texas State would also have the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Aggies. If Dallas Baptist beats New Mexico State on Saturday, it will be over for the Bobcats because UTA would win the three-way tie since the Mavericks are the top seed in the pool, and DBU would go if Texas State and the Patriots were the only 2-1 teams in the pool due to the head to head tiebreaker.
 
A New Mexico State victory over Dallas Baptist is not out of the question as the Aggies beat the Patriots twice already this season and in the lone DBU victory, the game went 10 innings.
 
For the Bobcats, Mitchell Pitts is scheduled to start Saturday. Texas State beat UT Arlington one of three games in Arlington just two weeks ago. The WAC Championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday. Click here for WAC Tournament Central.