BOONE, N.C. – The Texas State baseball team defeated Appalachian State 6-3 in 11 innings at Smith Stadium to kickoff a weekend road Sun Belt Conference series.
 
The Bobcats (14-8, 3-1 SBC) improved to 11-2 in the month of March, while the Mountaineers dropped to 10-12 overall and 1-3 in the league.
 
The home club held a 1-0 lead after the first two frames, but sophomore Jacob Almendarez recorded his first extra-base hit of the season and later scored on a single from classmate Jonathan Ortega to square up the contest in the top of the third.
 
The Mountaineers led off the fifth with a home run and scored an unearned tally in the sixth to secure a 3-1 lead that they would carry all the way into the top of the ninth.
 
Almendarez led off the frame with an infield single and scored on the first triple of the season from Ortega. He touched home plate on a passed ball to equalize 3-3 and send the contest into extras.
 
This marked the second straight extra-inning game for Texas State and the fourth of the season. The Bobcats sit 4-0 in extras this year and now have three victories in 2017 when trailing after eight innings.
 
Both teams combined for just one hit in the 10th without a game winner, and junior Derek Scheible began the 11th when he was hit by a pitch. After Ortega flied out for the second out of the frame, sophomore Ryan Newman recorded an infield single to put runners on first and second. Junior Theodore Hoffman hit a grounder that just narrowly got past the diving shortstop to bring around Scheible, and both Newman and Hoffman later scored on a two-RBI double down the left-field line from junior Luke Sherley.
 
Sophomore Brayden Theriot struck out all three Mountaineers in the bottom of the 11th to wrap up the series-opening triumph.
 
The Bobcats belted 17 hits to just 11 from the home side.
 
Ortega, Hoffman and Sherley all had three hits and combined for five RBIs and two runs scored. Scheible went 2-for-4 with his conference-leading 27th run of the campaign, while Almendarez had a pair of hits and scored twice. Sherley recorded the 100th hit of his career in the game.
 
Theriot (2-0) picked up his second win on the mound in the last three games after his relief effort helped the Bobcats earn a series victory over then-No. 20 Coastal Carolina (March 19). He tossed the final 3.0 frames against Appalachian State and did not allow a run on just two hits, while tallying four strikeouts and one walk.
 
Fellow sophomore Connor Reich threw 120 pitches across the first 8.0 innings and left with a no-decision. He conceded three runs (two earned) on nine hits, while fanning 12 Mountaineers and issuing zero walks. The last Bobcat pitcher to register at least 12 strikeouts in a single game was Lucas Humpal on Feb. 21, 2014 (13 vs. UC Riverside).
 
Reich and Theriot combined for 16 strikeouts, which was the most in a game by the Texas State pitching staff since April 12, 2011 (18 vs. Houston Baptist).
 
Jason Curtis, Matt Vernon and Brian Bauk all had two hits to pace Appalachian State.
 
Matt Brill (0-2) tossed 1.2 innings of relief and suffered the loss after allowing the three runs in the 11th inning on three hits. Travis Holden tossed the first 6.2 frames and conceded one run on 11 hits, while earning just one strikeout and walking two.
 
The projected forecast calls for rain Sunday, so the series is now slated to be completed with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. March 25.

TEXAS STATE TO HELP RAISE COLON CANCER AWARENESS TUESDAY
The Texas State and Texas A&M baseball programs will wear blue laces in their matchup at 6 p.m. March 28 at Bobcat Ballpark to help raise awareness for colon cancer and to help benefit Kiel Colon Cancer.
 
The mission of the organization is to decrease the number of preventable deaths caused by colon cancer through education and awareness initiative, encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and supporting colon cancer research. The founder of the organization, George Kiel III, is a Texas State graduate.
 
For more information, visit kielcoloncancer.org.


-TxStateBobcats.com-