SAN MARCOS – Despite one of the better hitting nights this season from freshman Nick Perez, the Bobcats fell to Arkansas State, 6-1, Friday night. The loss drops the Bobcats to 26-24 on the season and 13-12 in the Sun Belt Conference.
 
The game came down to the seventh inning. Texas State entered the inning down just one run, 2-1, and Luke Sherley led off with a double to left field. The Bobcats would eventually load the bases with one out, but a double play ended the Bobcat opportunity.
 
In the bottom of the inning, a Texas State error with two outs led to four unearned runs from the Red Wolves to push their lead up to 6-1. The Bobcats never recovered.
 
Both Perez and Tanner Hill tallied two hits apiece to lead the Bobcat offense while Lucas Humpal struck out four in 6.2 innings of work. Joe Powell did not allow an earned run and only gave up a hit and a walk in 1.1 innings.
 
 
WHO STOOD OUT
Nick Perez / IF / Freshman / Austin, Texas
The freshman third baseman from Austin had one of his better games of the season, striking multiple hits for the first time since March 12. He gave the Bobcats a scoring opportunity with a leadoff double in the fifth and scored the team's only run on a sacrifice fly. He also knocked a hit in the ninth inning to keep the game alive for Texas State.
 
 
SCORING RECAP

• Bottom 4^th – Two singles and a double plated in a run for Arkansas State. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Top 5^th – Nick Perez started the inning with a leadoff double. After the double, Jared Huber used a sacrifice bunt to move Perez to third, and Perez scored on a sacrifice fly to right field from Jonathan Ortega. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
• Bottom 6^th – A single from Matt Burgess was followed by a walk for Jeremy Brown. Tony Ortiz knocked a base hit up the middle to plate Burgess and put ASU up, 2-1. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Bottom 7^th – The second hitter in the lineup, Joe Schrimpf, drew a walk and went to second base on a groundout. The next play was a Bobcat error that allowed him to score an unearned run from second for a 3-1 ASU lead. After that, a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases for second baseman Jeremy Brown. He knocked a triple to left field to plate all three baserunners and put ASU up, 6-1. (4 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on base)

 
 
NOTES

• With his single in the third inning, Tanner Hill extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games, tying his longest hitting streak of the season.
• His leadoff double in the fifth inning was the third double of the season for Nick Perez.
• Tallying his fourth strikeout of the night in the fifth inning, Lucas Humpal now has at least four strikeouts in every one of his 13 starts this season.
• In the seventh inning, Cody Lovejoy entered the game to pinch hit. He knocked his second hit in as many games.
• Hill knocked his second hit of the game in the eighth to up his multi-hit game total to 18, the most on the team.
• Perez hit his second hit of the game in the ninth inning to up his multi-hit game total to five on the season. It was his first multi-hit game since March 12 against UL Monroe.

 
 
NEXT UP
The Bobcats will continue the series at Arkansas State with a 4 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and a 12 p.m. game on Sunday. After that, the Bobcats will play a midweek game at Texas followed by the final Sun Belt series of the season against UT Arlington.