EDINBURG, Texas – Down 2-0 in the ninth inning, the Bobcats showed resiliency with a late rally to tie the game and stay alive. In the 10
th, the Bobcats pulled ahead, 3-2, but two UT Rio Grande Valley runs in the bottom of the ninth stole the game from Texas State, 4-3. With the midweek road loss, the Bobcats fall to 15-6, but will look to bounce back at Bobcat Ballpark against South Alabama, the only other team undefeated in Sun Belt Conference action, on Thursday-Saturday.
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Facing a 2-0 deficit, it was
Jaylen Hubbard who started the rally with a base hit through the right side. After that,
Jonathan Ortega struck his third hit of the night to push Hubbard all the way to third, then Ortega took second on a UTRGV error. It was the only error of the night for the Vaqueros.
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Dylan Paul followed with a grounder to plate Hubbard and cut the UTRGV lead in half, 2-1.
Granger Studdard, who has a penchant for coming up big in the pressure situations, tied the game with a base hit to left field.
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It wasn't pretty in the bottom of the ninth, but the Bobcats were able to get the job done with a fly out, a strikeout from
Pasquale Mazzoccoli and an out on a fielder's choice grounder. In the top of the 10
th, it looked like it was headed Texas State's way.
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Tanner Hill led off with a single, his third hit of the night. Unfortunately, he was thrown out when the Bobcats tried to sacrifice bunt him to second base. On the blown sac bunt,
Luke Sherley reached safely and went to second base on a passed ball. A successful sac bunt from
Cody Lovejoy pushed Sherley to third base. After that,
Nick Perez, in his first at-bat of the game, doubled down the left field line to bring in Sherley and put Texas State up, 3-2.
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In the bottom of the inning, UTRGV led off with a bunt single and followed with a base hit through the left side to put two runners on base. A combination of a balk, stolen base, sacrifice fly and an error allowed both runs to score and clinch the game for the Vaqueros.
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Ortega and Hill led the Bobcats with three hits apiece while Sherley knocked two and scored the go-ahead run in the 10
th inning. Paul, Studdard, Lovejoy, Perez and Hubbard each supplied a hit apiece as the Bobcats tallied 13 hits on the night, three more than UT Rio Grande Valley.
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Brayden Theriot and
Braden Pearson stood out in relief, retiring a combined five batters without giving up a hit in a combined 11 pitches. Mazzoccoli was also strong with a strikeout and only gave up one hit and an intentional walk in two innings of work.
Jonathan Hennigan went 5.1 innings in the start with three strikeouts.
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Next, Texas State hosts South Alabama, the only other team in the Sun Belt Conference undefeated in conference play. The Bobcats and Jaguars will play games at 6 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday to determine which team will have the early seat atop the SBC.
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