WACO, Texas – Texas State used big bats, heads up base running and pitching in big moments to make short work of the Baylor Bears Tuesday night. The 12-3 victory pushes the Bobcats to 9-4 on the season.
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The Bobcats struck 13 hits on the night, led by freshman
Jonathan Ortega's four hits. He went 4-for-6 at the top of the lineup with two doubles, two runs and an RBI to give him a team-high 19 hits on the season.
Luke Sherley,
Ryan Newman and
Cory Geisler all tallied two hits apiece while
Dylan Paul racked up three RBIs on a first-inning triple. Texas State was all over the bases Tuesday night with nine walks and just four strikeouts in addition to the team's 13 hits.
Tanner Hill, Ortega and Geisler all scored two runs apiece.
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On the mound,
Brandon Lewis earned his first win of his collegiate career with two strikeouts, a walk, three hits and a run in 3.1 innings of work.
Joe Powell came through in a big situation with a strikeouts and no walks or hits in 1.1 innings while
Braden Pearson racked up three strikeouts in two innings of work.
Pasquale Mazzoccoli struck out one batter and pulled the two required outs to finish off the eighth while
Calvin Bush took care of Baylor in the ninth.
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In addition to impressive work at the plate and strong pitching from the mound, the Bobcats did not commit an error to complete a great effort in all phases of the game. The strong performance helps Texas State break a streak of 22 consecutive midweek road losses dating back to 2012.
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The Bobcats wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, putting up a three-spot in the first inning. Ortega stayed consistent with a leadoff double to get Texas State started. Two batters later,
Granger Studdard drew his 13
th walk of the season, one of two he would have on the night. After that, with two outs, Newman went down in the count, 0-2, but fought back to draw a walk and load the bases for the Bobcats. That's when Paul, making his second consecutive start, struck the first pitch he saw Tuesday night. He sent a triple to deep right centerfield, scoring Ortega, Studdard and Newman for a quick 3-0 Bobcat lead.
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After a 55-minute weather delay that started with one out in the bottom of the second inning, there wasn't much going for either team except for a sacrifice fly to score one for Baylor in the bottom of the fourth to close the deficit to 3-1.
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Both teams traded runs in the seventh inning. With two outs, Ortega knocked a double and scored on a base hit from Sherley. After that, Baylor used a double and a single to score one run in the bottom of the inning, but the Bobcats plastered eight runs on the board in the final two innings.
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A double and a single from Hill and Newman respectively started the top of the eighth. Next, Geisler knocked his second hit of the night to plate Hill. A wild pitch would advance Geisler to second and pinch runner
Jacob Almendarez to third base. Then, the Bobcats used heads up base running to score two more runs.
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Derek Scheible drew a walk with the fourth ball being another wild pitch. Almendarez scored with ease, and Scheible took advantage of the play to advance to second. With Baylor trying to throw Scheible out, Geisler took home to put the Bobcats up 7-2. A base knock from Ortega would bring in Scheible and help Texas State claim an 8-2 lead headed to the bottom of the eighth.
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Baylor was able to hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, but that was all the Bears could muster the rest of the way. In the ninth, however, the Bobcats had more to add. Baylor walked four batters to start the ninth with Geisler picking up the first RBI of the inning on a bases-loaded walk. Then, on the sixth Baylor wild pitch of the night,
Cody Lovejoy scored. For the last Bobcat hit of the night, Scheible doubled to right field to score
Jared Huber and Geisler and claim a 12-3 lead. Bush finished off Baylor in the bottom of the ninth with two fly outs and a 1-3 groundout.
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Texas State will stay on the road for the team's first Sun Belt Conference series of the season, traveling to UL Monroe for games at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. After that, the Bobcats will stay on the road for a midweek at UTSA before returning home to host Appalachian State in a series starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 18.
Head Coach Ty Harrington Reacts to Win over Baylor
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