SAN MARCOS, Texas – After dropping the first Sun Belt Conference game in school history on Friday, No. 20 Coastal Carolina was able to exact a modicum of revenge by defeating Texas State 4-3 Saturday evening at Bobcat Ballpark.
 
The Bobcats (11-8, 1-1 SBC) saw their season-long win streak halted at five games, while the reigning national champions (12-8, 1-1 SBC) picked up their first league win in a contest that was broadcast regionally on Spectrum Sports.
 
TXST scored first when junior Luke Sherley singled in the bottom of the second to bring around sophomore Jaylen Hubbard.
 
The Chanticleers answered in the top of the third and took a 2-1 advantage in the visiting half of the fifth. The Bobcats locked the game back at 2-2 on an RBI sacrifice fly from junior Derek Scheible, but the road side added a third run in the next frame.
 
Texas State equalized again in the seventh, but a solo home run from Seth Lancaster in the top of the eighth would prove to be the deciding tally in the game.
 
Sherley finished with a season-high three hits, while scoring twice and driving in one run.
 
Sophomore Wes Engle put together a second-straight quality start and left with a no-decision. He allowed just three runs (two earned) on seven hits, while striking out six and walking four. He threw 107 pitches, which was a season high for any Texas State hurler. Senior Brandon Courville (0-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 1.2 frames.
 
CCU starter Andrew Beckwith (1-1) needed 114 pitches to get through 7.0 innings but was able to collect the backdoor win. The preseason first team All-American and SBC Pitcher of the Year had a career-low one strikeout, while conceding three runs on six hits.
 
Dalton Ewing paced the Chanticleers with a 3-for-4 effort. He scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. Kevin Woodall, Jr. was able to record a pair of bloop singles, but the nation's leading home run hitter so far this year was held in check for the second-straight game by the Bobcat pitching staff.
 
The two teams will play for the series at 1 p.m. March 19.
 
TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON
Opening Statement…
"This was a well-pitched baseball game. Both teams were incredibly competitive today. That was a lot of fun to watch a college baseball game where both teams are getting after it. We had good swings early, and then (Coastal Carolina starting pitcher Andrew Beckwith) settled in and located well. Usually in games like this, there is something that breaks it open for one team. They came up with a big swing in the eighth inning with two outs. Wes Engle was really good for us today. That was fun to watch for us. I told the team that this is college baseball at its highest level. Our guys competed well today. Now the real competition becomes, do we wake up tomorrow morning and come back out here and compete again to try to win the series tomorrow?"
 
On only striking out twice…
"We hit some balls hard. To be honest, (Coastal Carolina) played great defense today. Not good defense. They played really great defense today. You look at some of the catches the centerfielder (Billy Cooke) made, you look at the plays the shortstop (Jordan Gore) made, all the way down to the final turn on the double play. They won the defensive battle, which probably settled the game this afternoon. Our offensive guys went in with a great approach. We barreled up some balls, but credit to them for playing great defense."
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-