Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Texas State used three home runs, including two back-to-back in the eighth, to beat Western Kentucky, 7-5, and clinch the series, 2-1, Sunday. With the win, the Bobcats improve to 15-8 on the season and 5-1 in Sun Belt Conference play while dropping WKU to 13-11 and 3-3.

Series Summary
Game 1	TXST-1, WKU-4	Summary	Box Score
Game 2	TXST-13, WKU-4	Summary	Box Score

There was a scoring flurry in the second and third innings and the game went quiet until the eighth. The Bobcats scored first in the contest when Tanner Hill knocked a triple in the second inning to far centerfield. After him, Ben McElroy also sent one to the centerfield fence to plate Hill and claim the 1-0 lead. Freshman Preston Dorsey followed with the first triple of his career to score McElroy with ease and crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly from Matt Smith.
 
The Hilltoppers answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie it, 3-3, but Texas State added two more in the third. Garrett Mattlage walked in the inning and Granger Studdard, after going 0-for-6 on Friday and Saturday, came up big with a two-run homer to put the Bobcats up 5-3.
 
Texas State enjoyed that lead for most of the game until the eighth inning. Western Kentucky had been the more dangerous team of the two with two outs, but the Bobcats proved they can be a threat with two outs when Hill knocked his third home run of the year to push the lead to 6-3. Right after him, McElroy sent his first home run of the season over the right centerfield fence.
 
It's the first time this season the Bobcats knocked back-to-back homers and they proved to be the difference in the game. Western Kentucky answered with two more runs of their own to pull within 7-5 in the eighth. The Bobcats stuck with closer Hunter Lemke in the ninth and it paid off for them. Western Kentucky put runners on in the inning, but the ground ball pitcher forced a grounder into a double play from WKU's best batter, Ryan Messex, to end the game.
 
The home run hitters led the Bobcats on the day with all three finishing with two hits. Hill and McElroy scored twice while Studdard and McElroy both knocked two RBI. Smith, Mattlage and Dorsey added a hit each to give Texas State nine hits on the day, two less than the Hilltoppers.
 
Lucas Humpal went 6.1 innings and struck out three while Lemke struck out one in his two innings of work. Cory Geisler pitched 0.2 innings. The staff walked five batters and gave up five earned runs and 11 hits.
 
Texas State will stay on the road for a midweek game at Texas at 6 p.m. Tuesday followed by a road series at Arkansas State over the weekend.