SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the eighth time this season, 15th-ranked Texas State (41-11, 23-4 Sun Belt) swept a weekend series with an 11-9 victory Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark over Louisiana (30-20, 17-10 Sun Belt). The win assured the Bobcats of at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and saw the team tie the program record for victories in a season.
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"There have been some unbelievable teams in that program but this one is about to be the best. They put there heads down and get to work," said head coach
Steven Trout. "If you ask them, they are still very hungry and are ready to do something we have never done here before."
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Jose Gonzalez bashed two home runs, including a grand slam, and his six RBI are the most by a TXST player since David Paiz also plated six against the Ragin' Cajuns on May 19, 2015.
Dalton Shuffield scored three runs and hit two doubles to give him 51 in his career to tie him atop the program's list with Tyler Sibley (2009-12).
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Also finishing with two base knocks on the day was
Cameron Gibbons,
Justin Thompson and
John Wuthrich.
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Picking up the win on the rubber was
Tony Robie (3-0) that saw him strikeout five in six innings.
Tristan Stivors earned his 15th save of the season after recording the final four outs on the game. Taking the loss was Jeff Wilson (4-3) when he surrendered five runs on six hits in 1.1 innings.
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Also seeing action out of the bullpen for TXST was
Triston Dixon. The right-hander threw 1.2 innings with a strikeout.
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UL tallied two runs in the top of the first. The visitor's lead was short lived as the Bobcats answered in the bottom of the frame.
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With two gone, Gonzalez crushed a 2-1 offering to right center for a solo shot. The homer was the 76th by a Bobcat this season to set a new team record. After Thompson singled,
Wesley Faison nearly went yard as well, but the ball instead landed just fair down the left field line for an RBI double to tie the game.
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A 1-0 offering landed in centerfield off the bat of Wuthrich to plate a run to put Texas State ahead.
Daylan Pena was walked and
Peyton Lewis was plunked to load the bases. Gibbons hit a routine grounder to the shortstop that was booted and allowed Wuthrich to score to put the Bobcats ahead 4-2 after the first.
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Shuffield led off the second with his first double of the game. Two pitches later, Gonzalez singled through the right side of the infield to plate a run and increase the advantage to three.
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Following a walk to Shuffield that loaded the bases with one out in the third, Gonzalez crushed an 0-1 offering off the batter's eye for a grand slam to increase the lead to 9-2.
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The score would remain the same until the seventh when Carson Roccaforte hit a two-run homer.
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With
Ben McClain on base after a walk in the bottom half of the inning, Shuffield doubled off the centerfield wall to drive in a run. The senior shortstop moved up to third on a deep fly out and would later score on a passed ball to put the lead back to seven for TXST.
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The Cajuns strung together six hits and a walk that produced five runs to make it a two-run ball game. Stivors came on and struck out Heath Hood on three pitches to end the threat. The right-hander induced two pop ups in the ninth to wrap up the Bobcats' home slate.
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Next up for TXST is a trip to Atlanta to face Georgia State in the final weekend series of the regular season. The three-game series begins on Thursday, May 19 at 5 p.m. CT.
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