CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Impressive pitching, a first-career hit for a freshman and a huge swing of the bat from
Luke Sherley put the Bobcats up, 2-1, on undefeated UCF in the seventh. With
Chase Hodson on the mound to finish the game out, Texas State stayed on top to pull of the big win over a team that was ranked as high as sixth in the nation last season.
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Trailing, 1-0, for three-and-a-half innings, the Bobcats struck in the seventh with the game-winning runs. With one out,
Theodore Hoffman hit the first pitch of his at-bat to left field to put a man on base with one out for the Bobcats. Then, freshman
Anthony Pagano entered the game as a pinch hitter and slipped one through the right side for his first-career hit. The hit pushed Hoffman all the way to third base.
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The Bobcats used a safety squeeze play that ultimately moved
Cody Lovejoy, pinch running at first, to second. The Knights played good defense on the play to hold Hoffman at third. That's when Sherley rewarded Head Coach
Ty Harrington for moving him up in the lineup to second. He lifted the team with a line drive down the left field line. As the ball rolled to the corner of the field, both Hoffman and Lovejoy came in to put the Bobcats on top, 2-1. Texas State never looked back.
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UCF struggled to hit Texas State pitching all day. The Knights scored on their first hit of the day in the fourth inning and would only get one more hit off of the duo of
Jeremy Hallonquist and
Chase Hodson. Hallonquist went six innings, only giving up one hit with six strikeouts. The senior from Hallsville, Texas, retired the first 10 consecutive batters for UCF.
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Hodson finished the game's final three innings with five strikeouts and just one hit. He was near untouchable in the ninth inning, striking out the first two batters, one of which was on just three pitches. On the first pitch of the third batter, Hodson forced a fly out to left field to clinch the game.
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Texas State, meanwhile, was more efficient at the plate, knocking six hits on the day. Sherley led the team with two and his two RBIs, and
Nick Perez,
Ryan Newman, Hoffman and Pagano each added a hit apiece.
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The Bobcats saw their first great scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second.
Tanner Hill led off with a walk, and Perez followed with a base knock through the left side. With two runners on, a groundout moved them both into scoring position. The Knights of UCF were able to make a great play on the next batter to prevent a sacrifice fly for the Bobcats. The left fielder came running up to catch a well-struck ball and was able to send it home in time to catch the Bobcat runner to end the inning and keep it tied, 0-0.
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In the fourth, UCF was able to score the team's lone run of the game. After the leadoff man went down on a groundout, an error and a walk put two runners on for the Knights. Then UCF knocked the team's first hit of the game, a double to left field to score one unearned run for a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats received an outstanding diving catch from Hoffman, who was able to hold the runner at third base on the play. That proved to be a huge play in the one-run victory. Hallonquist followed with his fourth strikeout of the day to get out of the inning.
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Texas State tried to answer in the bottom of the fifth but fell just a few feet short. Newman led off with a single past the second baseman, then Hoffman hit a hot grounder to force an error on the second baseman and put two runners on base for the Bobcats with no outs. Next, freshman
Jacob Almendarez used a sacrifice bunt to push both runners into scoring position.
Jonathan Ortega followed up with a walk to load the bases. Studdard went up to bat with two outs. After a fast two strikes, Studdard waited out the count to run it full. On the payoff pitch, Studdard sent it to deep right field, but the ball was caught in the wind. It fell just short of the fence for the third out of the inning to keep UCF on top, 1-0.
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The only time another run crossed the plate in the game was Texas State's big seventh inning. Standing at 4-3 on the season, Texas State will complete action at the Kleberg College Classic with a 3 p.m. game against the host, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, on Sunday. After that, the Bobcats return home to host Texas at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
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