SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State was in control for seven innings against No. 10 Texas, largely due to the work of
Montana Parsons and long ball hitting from the Bobcats. But then, in the eighth, the Longhorns broke through with a three-run homer to go on top, 5-4. An insurance run in the top of the ninth made it a 6-4 victory for Texas and dropped the Bobcats to 10-13-1 on the year. The game was played in front of a record Bobcat home crowd of 2,653.
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Parsons stymied the Longhorns for seven innings, finishing with six strikeouts, no walks and just three hits against the powerful Texas offense. He only gave up two runs. It was a season high in innings and strikeouts for Parsons, finishing with 104 pitches.
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The Bobcat offense helped the freshman out from the beginning. After Ben Johnson of Texas opened the game in San Marcos last year with a leadoff home run,
Cory Geisler returned the favor Tuesday night. The Bobcats gave up nothing but a single in the top of the first, and then Geisler stepped up to the plate to knock his first home run of the season in the bottom of the inning.
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Texas State kept the early pressure on with an RBI from
David Paiz.
Cedric Vallieres reached on a hit by pitch and Paiz followed with a double to right centerfield to plate Vallieres and give Texas State an early 2-0 lead.
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The Longhorns answered in the third inning with a solo home run from Zane Gurwitz, but Texas State had more in store. In the fourth, freshman
Derek Scheible earned a walk and scored on a single to centerfield from
Luke Sherley.
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With the Bobcats leading, 3-1, Texas knocked another home run, this one from designated hitter Michael Cantu. Texas State, however, answered with another long ball in the bottom of the fifth.
Granger Studdard struck his second roundtripper of the year to put Texas State in control, 4-2.
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Then the eighth inning came. Gurwitz knocked a two-out triple and Johnson took a walk. With two runners on, C.J. Hinojosa hit a three-run homer to left field to put the Longhorns up, 5-4. One more run in the ninth gave Texas the final score of 6-4.
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Texas thwarted Texas State's best opportunity at a victory over the Longhorns since a 2-1 Bobcat win in 2005 and a chance to go 2-1 against ranked opponents this season.
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Paiz led the Bobcat bats on a 2-for-4 night while Geisler, Studdard,
Colby Targun and Sherley all knocked hits as well.
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Next up for Texas State, the Bobcats are set to take on Georgia Southern in a battle for first place in the Sun Belt Conference this weekend. Games are slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday.
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