Box Score

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Despite having chances for the Western Athletic Conference Championship dashed with a Dallas Baptist victory over New Mexico State Saturday, Texas State finished the season strong with an impressive 11-2 victory over UT Arlington. Behind the arm of senior Mitchell Pitts in his final collegiate appearance and the heavy bats of the Bobcats, Texas State avoided a losing season for the seventh consecutive season.
 
“Having the chance to go out here on our last game tonight and end the season with a win was great,” Pitts said. “It's a rare situation, and it's hard with your emotions. We won today though, and that's a good feeling.”
 
Pitts and the Texas State defense retired 10 of the first 11 batters faced to give the TXST lineup a chance to build a lead. Build a lead they did with one run in the first and two in the second, but the big inning came when the Bobcats put up four runs in the sixth to bust the game wide open with a 7-0 lead.
 
Pitts finished with 5.1 innings pitched, four hits, two runs, three walks and three strikeouts. The senior went four innings with allowing just one hit and three base runners.
 
He wasn't the only senior to put together a strong day. Kevin Sah finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI, but his most impressive feat was an inside the park home run in the eighth inning. Senior counterpart Morgan Mickan was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run while Nick Smelser finished 1-for-4 with a run. Andrew Stumph picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to tie him for the second most RBI in a career at Texas State.
 
Colby Targun matched Sah's line with a matching 3-for-5 night with two RBI and three runs. He was also Texas State's lone representative on the All-WAC Tournament Team. The duo sparked a strong offensive outing for Texas State as six Bobcats finished with multiple hits to help Texas State outhit the Mavericks, 15-8.
 
Texas State started quickly with a run in the top of the first. Targun was able to start the hitting with a triple to deep left field. After that, a single from Garrett Mattlage put the Bobcats on the board first. Pitts and the Texas State defense carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, forcing three up, three down.
 
After a scoreless second, the Bobcats went back to work. Sah was the first to get on base in the bottom of the third with a hit by pitch. Two singles from Targun and Mattlage scored Sah to push the lead to 2-0. Stumph loaded the bases with no outs when he reached on an error by the first baseman. With the bases full, Ben McElroy grounded into a double play, but Targun was able to score for the second run of the inning and the third of the game, 3-0.
 
In the sixth, the Bobcat bats were back at it. Mickan singled and Smelser drew a walk behind him. With two on base, Sah singled to shallow right field to score Mickan and put the Bobcats up 4-0. After that, Targun took a hit by pitch to load the bases for Mattlage with just one out. The third UTA pitcher of the night walked Mattlage to extend the Texas State lead to 5-0.
 
After that, the speedy Sah scored on a wild pitch, then Stumph marched further into the Texas State record books with his 143^rd RBI on the sac fly, scoring Targun and giving the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.
 
The Mavericks were able to score two runs in response, but that would be all UTA could muster in both teams' final game of the season.
 
The next score came on Sah's impressive inside-the-parker, a hit he celebrated with a shout as he crossed home plate in the eighth inning. He hit one down the left line on which the left fielder tried a diving play. He couldn't pull it off and the ball rolled into the corner. Sah used his speed to leg out an inside the park home run and increase the Texas State lead to 8-2 in his final collegiate at bat.
 
To erase all doubt, the Bobcats tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning before closing out UTA in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Texas State finishes the WAC Tournament in a tie with Dallas Baptist to win Pool B, but the head-to-head tiebreaker gives the pool to DBU. The Patriots will face Pool A winner UTSA in the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday for the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.