Box Score SAN MARCOS – Texas State completed a series sweep of Troy with a 6-2 victory on Sunday after 7-3 and 5-2 victories on Friday and Saturday. The win pushes the Bobcats into a tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference and clinched a Sun Belt Championship Tournament berth for Texas State. The Bobcats improved to 27-21 on the season and 15-9 in SBC action.
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Lucas Humpal struck out eight batters in six innings, only walking two and giving up five hits and two runs.
Dylan Bein came in for the final three innings and struck out three batters to earn the second save of his career.
At the plate for the Bobcats,
Granger Studdard knocked two RBI while four others tallied one.
David Paiz led the bats with two hits on the day.
Cory Geisler started the day with a single over the second baseman's head to put the leadoff man on base. Paiz followed with a single through the right side. After that,
Garrett Mattlage knocked the first RBI of the game with a double to left field. Two more runs came in on a groundout and a fielder's choice to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead after one.
Two walks and a Matthew Howard single led to a Troy run scoring on a groundout in the top of the fifth inning, pulling Troy within two, 3-1.
Troy threatened again in the top of the sixth, but Humpal responded in a pressure situation. With runners at second and third base, the sophomore struck out consecutive batters to hold Troy without a run in the inning.
Texas State pushed the lead higher in the bottom of the sixth.
Austin O'Neal knocked a leadoff single and
Matt Sanchez, pinch running for O'Neal, stole second. Sanchez followed that with a third base steal, and then he scored on a
Cody Perkins single to shallow centerfield to give Texas State a 4-1 lead.
The Trojans answered Texas State's score with one of their own in the top of the seventh. Justin Hancock led off with a single, and then Tyler Vaughn, pinch running for Hancock, stole second. Troy designated hitter David Hall, the team's leading hitter, knocked a single to plate Vaughn and pull within two runs of Texas State, 4-2.
The Bobcats, however, added more to their lead in the bottom of the inning. After Paiz knocked a leadoff double down the left line,
Taylor Bailey came in to pinch run. He showed off his wheels, scoring from second on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield from Studdard.
Tanner Hill followed that with a two-out double to deep left centerfield. He was able to score from second on a base knock from
Trey Hicks into shallow centerfield to push the Bobcat lead to 6-2, the eventual final score.
Texas State will get the midweek off and will host UALR in the team's final home Sun Belt Conference series of the season. After that, the Bobcats will play at Texas and at UT Arlington before going to the SBC Championship Tournament.
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