SAN MARCOS – In a Friday doubleheader, Texas State fell twice to the Little Rock Trojans, 8-7 and 10-2. The Bobcats were in control in the first game with a 7-4 lead headed to the ninth, but one of the best offensive teams in the Sun Belt Conference came back to pull ahead and secure the first win of the day. After that, Little Rock pelted Texas State with 10 runs across the middle three innings to gain control of the second game and drop the Bobcats to 21-15 on the season and 9-5 in Sun Belt Conference action.
 
In the first game, Luke Sherley hit his way out of a bit of a dry spell as of late, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. He knocked a big double to left centerfield in the second inning to score a run and added a single in the fourth inning for one more. Tanner Hill was also deadly with a 3-for-4 performance.
 
Lucas Humpal also put on a strong performance in the first game of the day, striking out 10 batters and winning three of four battles with the conference's leading hitter, Ryan Scott, who was second in the country in hitting coming into the game. One of those wins came in the fourth inning after Little Rock drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Humpal and the defense recovered, culminating in a strikeout of Scott with two runners in scoring position to close out the at-bat.
 
But, in the ninth inning, Little Rock scored four runs on five hits to steal the game from the Bobcats and all the momentum headed into the second game.
 
In the second game of the day, the Trojans busted out with five runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take a commanding 9-1 lead after Hill knocked his 13^th home run of the season in the second inning. Jonathan Ortega added his third home run of the year and Texas State's 34^th of the season in the eighth, but it would not be enough to spark the comeback the Cats needed.
 
Texas State will look to rebound and salvage the series at 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
WHO STOOD OUT
Tanner Hill / C/1B / Senior / San Marcos, Texas
Hill was 3-for-4 with an RBI, two runs and a walk on an impressive performance in Game 1. He started the second game with his 13^th home run of the season to put the Bobcats up 1-0. With that homer, he cracks into the top-10 list for most homers in a season at Texas State and is currently tied for fourth in the nation in homers. He's first in the Sun Belt Conference. He finished the day 4-for-8 with three runs, two RBIs and a walk.
 
Lucas Humpal / RHP / Senior / Corpus Christi, Texas
The senior from Corpus Christi struck out 10 batters in eight innings of work. Against a team averaging 6.48 runs per game, Humpal held one of the best offensive teams in the Sun Belt Conference to just four runs and won three of four battles against the SBC-leading hitter Ryan Scott, who sat second in the nation in batting average coming into the day. Humpal struck him out twice and induced a fly out in four at-bats.
 
Brandon Lewis / LHP / Freshman / Cypress, Texas
The freshman from Cypress made his first appearance in relief Friday evening. He was impressive in three innings pitched with four strikeouts and nine consecutive batters retired. He did not give up a run, a hit or a walk in the appearance.
 
Jonathan Ortega / IF / Freshman / Victoria, Texas
Ortega finished the day 3-for-8 with three runs, an RBI, a walk and his third home run of the season, belting the solo shot in the eighth inning of the second game. It was his first home run since March 4 against Incarnate Word. He also had standout plays defensively.
 
Luke Sherley / IF / Sophomore / The Woodlands, Texas
Sherley finished the first game on a 3-for-5 performance with two RBIs, starting the day 2-for-2 and adding a bunt single later in the game. His double in the second inning plated a run, as did a single in the fourth inning.
 
SCORING RECAP
Game 1

• Top 2^nd – A Little Rock Trojan reached safely on a fielder's choice. He stole second and went to third on a groundout. With two outs, a base hit to left field brought him in for a 1-0 Little Rock lead. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Bottom 2^nd – Both Tanner Hill and Theodore Hoffman knocked singles to start the at-bat, and Jaylen Hubbard reached on a fielder's choice bunt. With runners at first and second base, Luke Sherley knocked a big double to left centerfield to plate Hoffman. Hubbard came in on a groundout from Jared Huber for the 2-1 Texas State lead. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Top 3^rd – After a leadoff double for SBC-leading hitter Ryan Scott, a failed pickoff play at second base and a fumble in the outfield allowed him to score to tie the game, 2-2. (1 run, 3 hits, 2 errors, 1 left on base)
• Bottom 4^th – Hill led off with a double to deep left centerfield, and, two batters later Hubbard drew a walk. With runners at the corners, Sherley knocked a single through the left side to plate Hill. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Top 5^th – Little Rock led off with a double again, and the runner went to third on a groundout. A single up the middle plated the run and tied the game, 3-3. A groundout pushed the runner from first base to second, and he scored on a two-out single to left field to put Little Rock up, 4-3. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Bottom 5^th – Jonathan Ortega knocked his first hit of the day and Ryan Newman followed with a walk. After that, both runners advanced on a passed ball. Next, Granger Studdard hit a single up the middle to plate both runners and put the Bobcats up, 5-4. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Bottom 7^th – Hill drew a walk to get on base and went to second on a wild pitch. Hubbard knocked a single to left centerfield to bring in Hill and push the Bobcat lead to 6-4. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Bottom 8^th – Ortega hit a one-out double and went to third on a fly out. After Studdard drew a walk, Hill knocked a bloop single over the first baseman to plate Ortega and push Studdard all the way to third base, increasing Texas State's lead to 7-4. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on base)
• Top 9^th – Little Rock's Ryan Scott led off with a single, and Dalton Thomas followed with a two-run homer to close the Bobcat lead to 7-6. A single and a walk put two more runners on base for Little Rock, and back-to-back single (4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

 
Game 2

• Bottom 2^nd – Hill hit a solo home run. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
• Top 4^th – After back-to-back singles, an error on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases. A grounder into a double play scored one. After that, a walk put runners at the corners. A Little Rock single scored one and a triple scored two more. Next, another Little Rock single plated a run and pushed the lead to 5-1. (5 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 1 left on base)
• Top 5^th – An error and back-to-back singles plated an unearned run for Little Rock for a 6-1 lead. A wild pitch scored one more and a single up the middle plated two runs for Little Rock for a 9-1 lead. (4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 left on base)
• Top 6^th – Little Rock's Nik Gifford hit a solo home run. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Bottom 8^th – Ortega hit a solo home run. (1 run, 1 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

 
NOTES

• Luke Sherley put together his first two-RBI game since Feb. 28 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and knocked his first double since March 20 against Appalachian State. With a bunt single in the seventh, Sherley completed his first three-hit game since Feb. 28 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and his second three-hit game of the season.
• With his two-RBI single up the middle in the fifth inning of Game 1, Granger Studdard tallied his fifth two-RBI game of the season and sixth multi-RBI game of the year. He now stands second on the team in multi-RBI games.
• Sherley, Tanner Hill and Theodore Hoffman each started the first game of the day 2-for-2 at the plate. That marks the 12^th, ninth and eighth multiple-hit games of the season for each player respectively.
• Hill's home run in the second inning of Game 2 was his 13^th of the season, tying him for ninth all-time in homers in a season at Texas State. It also boosts him into tied for fourth in the nation in home runs. He leads the SBC.
• Of Hill's 13 home runs this season, 10 of them have been solo shots.
• Brandon Lewis's appearance in Game 2 was his first appearance in relief this season. Before Friday, he had started five midweek games.
• With three walks Friday, Studdard improves his SBC-leading total to 31 walks this season.

 
NEXT UP
Texas State and Little Rock will complete the series with a 1 p.m. game Saturday. After that, the Bobcats travel to nationally ranked Texas A&M, UL Lafayette and Texas.