SAN MARCOS, Texas – Unlike on Saturday where the wind was blowing out of Bobcat Ballpark, it flipped for Sunday's contest. This led to more small ball from Texas State (10-5) on its way to a 5-1 win over North Dakota State (1-14) and a sweep in the final non-conference series of the season.
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"It was a completely different day with the wind blowing in. Had to go back to more small ball but to me it all started on the mound. Levi [Wells] coming back and threw the ball really, really well. He was ahead of hitters all day," said head coach
Steven Trout. "Gave it to guys in the bullpen and Keithley was really good along with Dixon and
Jonathan Martinez at the end. I challenged those pitchers before the game that we have to dictate the at-bats. We have some really good arms and they need to do a good job of executing, which they did today."
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Only one extra-base hit was recorded by TXST with it being a double off the bat of
Davis Powell, who went 3-for-4 on the day with a run and RBI.
Kameron Weil recorded two base knocks on the afternoon while
Jose Gonzalez and
Ryder Hernandez plated three and one runs, respectively.
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Levi Wells (3-0) threw six scoreless innings and matched his season-high of nine strikeouts to pick up the victory. The right-hander allowed just five baserunners with two hits and two walks allowed and one hit batter. Suffering the loss was Tristen Roehrich (0-4) despite allowing just a run while striking out 12.
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Out of the bullpen,
Carson Keithley went 1.1 innings and surrendered an unearned run.
Jonathan Martinez set all three batters down he faced in the ninth and
Triston Dixon induced a double play on the lone pitch he threw.
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Weil led off the Bobcats' first time at the plate with a single to center. Powell would hit a ball into the hole that saw his counterpart make a diving stop. The throw was late and was misplayed by the first baseman, which allowed Weil to get to third. The first pitch to Gonzalez saw him hit it just deep enough to left to bring home the speedy junior for the first run of the game.
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It would be a pitchers' duel until the bottom of the seventh.
Cade Manning started the frame with a single to center and advance to second on a groundout. The Bobcats would string together four consecutive singles that plated four runs.
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The Bison scored their lone run of the afternoon on a single in the next half inning. They were able to load the bases but Dixon came on and induced the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
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Next up for the Bobcats is a meeting with 10-ranked TCU on Tuesday at Bobcat Ballpark with first pitch at 6 p.m.
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