SAN MARCOS, Texas – Seniors Cameron Bush and Rhett McCaffety combined to shutout and hold 21st-ranked Troy to just four hits Friday night as Texas State claimed a 6-0 victory in the series opener. It was the Bobcats third shutout of the season and the first time the Trojans have been held scoreless since May 28, 2022 versus Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

With the results, TXST improved to 25-25 on the season and 11-14 in conference play while Troy is now 34-17 overall and 16-9 in league action.

Bush (1-0) tossed 5.2 innings, the longest outing of his career, while giving up just three hits and one walk to pick up the win. McCaffety worked the final 3.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowed a base knock to earn his first save of the season. Taking the loss was Garrett Gainous (2-3) as he allowed a run on three hits and two walks in 5.1 innings.

Aaron Lugo went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a double. Also recording two base knocks was Kameron Weil. Both he and Davis Powell drove in a run apiece.

It was a scoreless contest until the bottom of the fourth. That frame began with Lugo singling back up the middle. The junior moved into scoring position on a slow groundout to the second baseman. Two batters later, Powell sent a 1-0 pitch just past a diving third baseman to plate Lugo for the 1-0 lead.

Troy threatened to at least tie the game in the sixth. With a runner on first and two outs, Tremayne Cobb, Jr. doubled to left center. Ethan Kavanagh appeared on his way to tying the game but stumbled to the ground as he rounded third that forced him to scramble back to the third base bag. McCaffety came on and got a strikeout to end the frame and maintain the one-run advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh, August Ramirez led off with a single to right and Powell was walked. Cade Manning squared up to bunt but pulled the bat back and was hit on the foot by the ball to load the bases. Weil smoked a 1-2 pitch to right for an RBI single that kept the bases loaded.

Two batters later, a wild pitch allowed Manning to score to increase the lead to three runs. The bases would be reloaded right after the wild pitch as Farber was intentionally walked. Lugo took advantage with a bases clearing double to the left center gap to make it a 6-0 advantage.

Game two of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday with Senior Day activities taking place at 3:25 p.m.

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