SAN MARCOS, Texas - With the first swing of his collegiate career, freshman
Jonathan Ortega ignited the crowd at Bobcat Ballpark Friday night. The leadoff man knocked a home run to put the Bobcats up 1-0, and the rest of the bats came through to support
Lucas Humpal and the defense in a 6-2 victory over Washington State to start the 2016 season.
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Seven different Bobcats struck a hit in the game with Ortega leading the way on a 2-for-3 night with two RBIs and a run. After him, six other Bobcats finished with a hit while
Cody Lovejoy,
Tanner Hill and
Jared Huber all adding RBIs. Hill's came on a solo home run from the powerful senior. In all, the Bobcats tallied eight hits on the night with five RBIs and six runs.
Humpal was strong from the mound in seven innings of work. He gave up seven hits, but only two runs and a walk with six strikeouts, winning the matchup against Washington State's ace and likely first round pick in this summer's MLB Draft, Ian Hamilton.
Ortega wasted no time adjusting to collegiate pitching in the first at-bat of his Texas State career. He watched one pitch go by to get a feel for it, then sent the second pitch out of Bobcat Ballpark to get Texas State started with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
After Washington State answered with two runs in the top of the third, Texas State responded to tie the game. Another freshman,
Nick Perez, knocked a base hit to centerfield, and
Luke Sherley moved him to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Lovejoy hit a bouncer that saw its way to the outfield to plate Perez and tie the game, 2-2. The Bobcats almost pulled ahead on nice contact from Hill, but WSU left fielder Dugan Shirer was able to get under it to end the inning. Hill would show what he was capable of later.
Humpal only needed five pitches to retire three batters for Washington State in the top of the fourth, getting help from strong defensive play. After that, the Bobcats proved to be aggressive on the base paths. With
Ryan Newman at second base, Huber knocked the ball to deep right center. Washington State made the catch, but Newman tagged up and went to third base. Then Newman caught the Cougars sleeping a bit and took off for home as they slow played the fly out. Newman's run broke the tie to put the Bobcats up, 3-2.
Texas State kept the pressure on in the inning. Perez earned a walk to push Sherley to second base. With two runners on base, Ortega came up big again. He knocked a base hit to centerfield to bring in Sherley and push the score to 4-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Hill knocked the second home run of the game for the Bobcats with a ball that skied high over the left field fence to put Texas State up, 5-2.
Huber and Perez started the sixth inning with back-to-back walks, and Ortega advanced both of them with a sacrifice bunt. With runners at second and third, a wild pitch from Washington State's third pitcher of the inning brought in Huber to give the Bobcats a 6-2 lead.
Humpal made quick work of the Washington State batters in the seventh inning before taking a seat, and sophomore
Braden Pearson finished off the game with two hitless innings and a strikeout. Friday night's pitching may loom over the four-game series with the Bobcats only using two pitchers to four for Washington State.
The Bobcats and Cougars will meet for their second game at 3 p.m. Saturday with
Jeremy Hallonquist on the mound for the Bobcats and lefty Damon Jones for Washington State.
Head Coach Ty Harrington Discusses Great Start to 2016Friday Starter Lucas Humpal Reflects on First Win of the YearFreshman Jonathan Ortega Talks about His First Collegiate Game
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