TROY, Ala. – Texas State fought all the way to the very end of the team's Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament opener against No. 3 seed UL Lafayette … and it paid off. The Ragin' Cajuns committed two costly errors with two outs in the ninth inning to help the Bobcats score four unearned runs to come back from a three-run deficit to win, 8-7. With the win, Texas State advances to play No. 7 UT Arlington at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night. The UTA Mavericks advanced to the winner's bracket with an impressive 13-5 victory over No. 2 Troy, the tournament host.
Texas State's
David Paiz led the Bobcats with easily his best day as a Bobcat. He knocked six RBI with a home run and three hits, finishing 3-for-5 with a run scored. In addition to him,
Tanner Hill finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two walks in a game in which UL Lafayette looked to be pitching around him.
The chances of a win were bleak for the Bobcats heading into the ninth inning trailing, 7-4. They were facing UL Lafayette's top closer, Dylan Moore. He had nine saves coming into the game with a 1.76 ERA and just a .205 opponents' batting average.
Zach Sullivan, however, helped swing momentum towards Texas State's side by legging out an infield single to lead off the inning.
Later in the inning, with a man on base,
Cory Geisler kept the offense rolling with a base knock to shallow centerfield. A strikeout after that put the Bobcats' backs against the wall with two outs and a three-run deficit in the ninth. That's when the errors began for UL Lafayette.
Granger Studdard hit what looked to be the final out, a fly ball to left field, but the ULL left fielder lost the ball and it landed safely to bring in both runners and pull the Bobcats within one run, 7-6. Next, Hill worked the count for his second walk of the day, and
Ben McElroy followed by reaching on ULL's second error of the inning, this one by the second baseman. That error made it the first game in which UL Lafayette had committed three errors since April 12.
With bases loaded, Paiz came through for his third hit of the day to drive in two runs and put Texas State up, 8-7. He worked back from down, 0-2, in the count. After that, it was up to the defense, and the Bobcats did what was required.
Tyler Giovanoni was on the mound to start the inning and forced the first batter to ground out. After a walk, the Bobcats called on senior righty
Blake Whitter. He got the out the Bobcats needed on one pitch, forcing a fly out to centerfield. For the next batter, Texas State called on
Cory Geisler to try to take advantage of a matchup with a lefty hitter, designated hitter Tyler Girouard. Geisler forced the groundout to Paiz at first base to clinch the game.
The Ragin' Cajuns were the first ones on the board, scoring in the second inning. After a leadoff double from Girouard, a Bobcat error in the outfield put runners at second and third with no outs. An RBI single from Evan Powell scored the first run, and UL Lafayette was able to score another on a double play groundout.
Colby Targun ended the inning with a catch on a fly ball to limit ULL's scoring to just two runs in an unfortunate inning for the Bobcats.
In the third inning, UL Lafayette knocked a solo home run to extend the lead to three runs. In the fourth, though, the Bobcats tied it up off the bat of Paiz. Hill worked the count for a two-out walk. Behind him, McElroy knocked a single to shallow centerfield to put two runners on base for the Bobcats. With two on, Paiz knocked his fourth home run of the season to tie the game in a hurry, 3-3.
Powell for UL Lafayette made it a short-lived lead for Texas State when he answered with a leadoff solo home run the next inning to put the Ragin' Cajuns up, 4-3. After the home run, ULL followed with a single and a double. Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Blake Trahan followed with a double to score both runners, but was thrown out at third by Texas State.
Cedric Vallieres sent the relay to Sullivan in time for the out. Still, UL Lafayette snagged a 6-3 lead.
Hill, the Texas State catcher, was able to catch two runners trying to steal for the final two outs of the inning, throwing one to
Luke Sherley and the other to Vallieres to make it all three outs in the inning on the base paths.
After a scoreless fifth, the Bobcats began to close the gap in the sixth. Hill knocked a one-out double and McElroy followed with a walk. With two runners on, Paiz drove in his fourth run of the day with an RBI single straight up the middle to plate Hill and cut the ULL lead to 6-4.
Texas State held UL Lafayette without a run in both the fifth and sixth inning, but the Ragin' Cajuns were able to score one in the seventh. An error, sacrifice bunt and an RBI double to right field pushed the ULL lead to 7-4. That wouldn't hold though as Texas State took advantage of ULL mistakes in the ninth to come out on top.
Texas State will send senior righty
Scott Grist to the mound to face sophomore righty Joel Kuhnel and the UT Arlington Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Grist earned SBC Pitcher of the Week honors for his last performance against UTA, only allowing five hits and one run in the second complete game of his career. The Bobcats also scored 22 runs in a 22-8 victory over the Mavericks in their last meeting with Hill tying a school record with nine RBI along with Geisler and Vallieres scoring five runs apiece. With a win, the Bobcats would not have to play again until Saturday.
For video of Thursday night's game vs. UT Arlington, click
here. For live stats, click
here. And for audio, fans can always listen at
www.txstatebobcats.com/radio or on 89.9 KTSW. Also, follow
@TXStateBaseball on Twitter.
Coach Jeremy Fikac and David Paiz Postgame ReactionHighlights vs. UL Lafayette
