EDINBRUG, Texas – Six runs were scored by Texas State (17-6) in the second inning and that would be enough as the Bobcats held on for a 6-5 win over UTRGV (12-12) Wednesday night at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
 
"Winning on the road is tough and that was a tough win. Really proud of how we jumped out early and grinded out at bats in the second. I thought we threw the baseball well tonight and played decent defense. Big guts by Jack Stroud closing out the game," said head coach Steven Trout. "We have to find a way to be better on offense for the entire game. Our last hit was the grand slam, so that's a lot of innings of no-hit baseball. You always learn even when you win. So, we go back to work to better for Friday."
 
Earning the win was Tony Robie (3-0) as he started and threw three scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Jack Stroud struck out three over the final 1.2 frames to earn his first save of the season. Taking the loss was J.C. Ariza (1-3), who surrendered six runs on six hits in three innings of action.
 
Peyton Zabel struck out four in 3.1 innings out of the bullpen and Rhett McCaffety worked an inning with two of the outs being strikeouts.
 
Six different players had one hit on the night for TXST. Five of them were singles except for Davis Powell's grand slam. Of the seven walks drawn at the dish, Daylan Pena drew three of them for the second straight game.
 
A double and fielding error allowed Zerek Saenz to get to third on the first pitch of the game for the Vaqueros. Robie was able to work around it and hold the hosts off the scoreboard.
 
Back-to-back singles from Pena and August Ramirez started off the top of the second. A wild pitch allowed Pena to advance to third but he was thrown out on a grounder to the third baseman. Peyton Lewis hit a shot to left that loaded the bases and two batters later, Ryder Hernandez sent a hard shot to the left side that saw his counterpart making a diving stop for an infield single that plate a run.
 
A 2-2 pitch was sent to left by Ben McClain that scored another run. Powell then cranked a 3-1 offering to left field for a grand slam that made it 6-0 for TXST.
 

GRAND #SLAMMARCOS!!! Powell with a ?? to left field to increase the lead to 6-0!#EatEmUp x @Dpowell_09 pic.twitter.com/cjZ1e8C9bs

— Texas State Baseball (@TxStateBaseball) March 30, 2023

 
UTRGV loaded the bases with one out in the fourth but were only able to score once. The hosts would add another run on a single back up the middle by Jacob Sanchez in the next frame to cut the Bobcats' advantage to four.
 
The Vaqueros would continue to chip away at Texas State's lead with one run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to make it a 6-5 contest.
 
Brandon Pimentel led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to right. Stroud was able to induce a ground out to Peyton Benesh at shortstop to keep the runner at second. The lefty finished off the game by getting the next two batters looking on strikes.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas State that begins on Friday at 6 p.m. from Bobcat Ballpark.
 
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