SAN MARCOS, Texas – In a back-and-forth game, Texas State used big bats late to beat Baylor in walk-off fashion in extra innings, 9-8, Thursday night. After giving up the lead and allowing a five-run eighth inning to Baylor, the Bobcats struck back with home runs in the eighth, ninth and 10
th innings, all from
Granger Studdard and
Derek Scheible.
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Texas State fans are familiar with #GrangerDanger, and, Thursday night, Studdard showed the Baylor Bears how dangerous he could be. After leading most of the night, the Bobcats found themselves down, 8-6. In the bottom of the eighth, Studdard lifted a home run to the deepest part of the field, straight out to center, to pull the Bobcats within one run. This came after he hit a two-RBI single in the sixth inning.
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After the Bobcat defense responded without allowing a run to Baylor in the top of the ninth, Scheible came through with his second home run of the season and his second in a big situation for Texas State. With a full count, the freshman hit the roundtripper to left center to start the ninth inning.
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Texas State retired three straight in the top of the 10
th to set the stage for Studdard's second walk-off home run and fourth walk-off hit of his career. He sent the 1-1 pitch out of Bobcat Ballpark to win the game. The sophomore has equaled his season total in home runs from last year in the past eight games, a stretch in which he has hit .333 with six home runs, 10 RBI, 11 hits, eight runs scored and a slugging percentage of .939. He finished the night 3-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored.
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Studdard and Scheible weren't the only Bobcats to hit Thursday night. After Baylor scored the first run of the game in the second inning,
Tanner Hill knocked a single to centerfield and Scheible followed with a walk.
Jared Huber plated Hill with a bases-loaded walk and
Luke Sherley used a sacrifice fly to score Scheible.
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In the sixth inning, tied 2-2, the Bobcats scored three runs.
Theodore Hoffman and Huber started the inning with back-to-back walks. Hoffman was able to reach third on a passed ball. The Texas State coaching staff showed faith in their freshmen with a call for a squeeze bunt. Sherley laid down a well-placed bunt to bring in Hoffman for the first run of the inning. Then it was Studdard with a single to left centerfield to plate Huber and Sherley and put the Bobcats up 5-2.
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Both teams traded runs in the seventh inning with Hoffman knocking a triple and scoring off a single from Huber. Then, in the eighth, it could have been disaster for Texas State. The Bobcats gave up five runs on six hits and an error, but the clutch home runs in the final three innings of the game saved Texas State.
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Cory Geisler, Hill and Sherley joined Studdard as Bobcats to finish with multiple hits in the game. Geisler was 2-for-6 and Hill was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Sherley finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Texas State finished with 15 hits in the game.
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Lucas Humpal struck out six and only gave up two earned runs in the start, going 6.2 innings. Meanwhile,
Joe Powell picked up the win with 2.1 innings of solid work on the mound, only allowing one hit.
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Texas State and Baylor will continue the rest of the series in Waco, Texas with the Friday game scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and Saturday's game scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
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