Bobcat Sports Weekly Wrap-Up

Saturday Softball DH vs. South Alabama Rescheduled For Today

MOBILE, Ala. — The doubleheader originally scheduled against South Alabama Saturday afternoon has now been canceled due to the excess amount of rain in the area. The Bobcats and the Jaguars are tentatively scheduled to play in a doubleheader Sunday morning beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Updates regarding the weather situation in Mobile can be found at www.txstatebobcats.com or on the softball social media pages (@TxStateSoftball on Twitter and Texas State Softball on Facebook). Live stats and live video will still be available when the games are played at www.txstatebobcats.com.

Bobcats Split Doubleheader, Big Bats Win Game 2

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State and UL Lafayette split Saturday’s doubleheader with the Ragin’ Cajuns taking game one by a score of 11-3, but the Bobcats bouncing back in the late game to beat last year’s Sun Belt Conference Champions, 10-4.

Tanner Hill and Cory Geisler paced the Bobcats from the plate all day, combining for nine hits combined in both games and a .529 average. While those two led the squad, nearly all the Bobcats were hitting well with five players hitting .333 or better on the day and the team finishing both games at .324.

It wasn’t just average the Bobcats were hitting for as they knocked out three home runs Saturday. Granger Studdard hit his eighth one of the season to tie him with Cedric Vallieres for the team lead while Hill knocked two out in an impressive game two showing, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, four runs and a walk.

After dropping the first game, the Bobcats came out for game two with a renewed vigor, sitting down the Ragin’ Cajuns 1-2-3 to start the game and following with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Geisler led off the game with a single up the middle and stole second. He went to third on a throwing error from the catcher on the play. Studdard knocked in the first RBI of game two with a single. Then he came in on Hill’s first home run to put the Bobcats up 3-0.

The Ragin’ Cajuns proved they would not lay down in the second game, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings to go ahead by one. Hill, however, answered with his second home run, a solo shot to tie the game. After that, the Bobcats scored six runs over the next three innings. In the third, David Paiz walked and scored on a triple from Geisler, making it the second time Saturday that Geisler drove in a run on a triple.

In the fifth, Hill worked the count for a walk and Theodore Hoffman knocked a double down the left field line to put both runners in scoring position. A single from Jared Huber scored both runners, part of a 3-for-8 day for the freshman. He joined Hill for the most RBI on the team Saturday, finishing with three.

Finally, in the sixth inning of game two, Vallieres reached on a catcher’s interference and Studdard took the next free base on a hit by pitch. After a single from Hill loaded the bases, Hoffman took a pitch in the small of the back to bring in a run. A groundout after that scored one more, and Colby Targun followed with a single to bring in Hill and put the Bobcats up 10-4, the eventual final score.

Scott Grist went six innings on the mound to get the win, striking out three. Meanwhile, Tyler Giovanoni picked up the first save of his career with three innings pitched, only allowing two hits and striking out one.

Game one was a different story for the Bobcats. The Ragin’ Cajuns jumped on Texas State, scoring five runs in the first five innings before the Bobcats could get on the board. Finally, in the bottom of the fifth, Luke Sherley knocked a hit up the middle, and Geisler drove him in with a triple. Geisler would score a batter later on a sacrifice fly from Vallieres. The only other Texas State run scored in the game was on a solo home run from Studdard. UL Lafayette went on to score six combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings to push the team’s run total to 11, eventually winning, 11-3.

Both teams will return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday. The pitcher is to be announced for UL Lafayette, but the Bobcats will be pitching Jeremy Hallonquist in the series finale.

Men’s Golf Goes for SBC Title Sunday

DESTIN, Fla. – The Texas State men’s golf team looks to have success at the Sun Belt Conference Championship for the second straight year, beginning Sunday at the Sandestin Golf Club outside Destin, Fla.

At this event last year, Stuart Smallwood won the individual championship, earning him a berth to the NCAA Tournament. An automatic berth is available to the team and individual that wins the event, given that the individual is not also part of the winning team.

As a team, the Bobcats placed fifth at the tournament last season. The tournament was held at Grand Bear Golf Club near Biloxi, Miss., before being moved for this year’s event.

The Bobcats come in ranked fifth best in the Sun Belt out of 11 teams. Tyler Saunders has won one Sun Belt award this year, winning the Player of the Month for February after winning the tournament hosted by South Alabama and finishing second at UL Lafayette’s event.

Texas State will tee off at 7:30 a.m., and will be grouped with South Alabama and UT Arlington. 18 holes will be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.

Women’s Tennis Falls 4-1 Against South Alabama

New Orleans, La. – The Texas State women’s tennis team’s late season rally came to an end on Friday when the Bobcats suffered a 4-1 loss against top-seeded South Alabama in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the City Parks Tennis Center.

The tournament matches are played with the shortened ITA format that includes no advantage scoring in singles and doubles, singles matches being played first, and doubles matches being played only if the score is tied at 3-3.

Texas State, which entered the tournament as the No. 8 seeded team, had won three straight matches and five of its last six matches during April heading into Friday match after beating UL Lafayette, 4-2, in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday.

The Jaguars were able to jump out to an early lead after holding off several Bobcat rallies in each of the singles matches. An example came on the No. 1 court where Ana Laura Gutierrez had climbed back into contention in the first set of her match against Laura Valkova.

Valkova had opened the match winning four of the first five points, before Gutierrez to win two straight points and pull back to within 4-3. However, Valkova won the next two points to capture the set 6-4 and went on to win the second set by a score of 6-2 to give the Jaguars a 1-0 lead in the match.

South Alabama opened up a 3-0 lead when Katy Collins fell 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 6 match and Monica Pieratt suffered a 6-4, 6-2 setback on the No. 2 court.

Texas State’s lone point came on the No. 5 court where senior Shannon Beckett won her ninth straight match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mary Angela Martin. The win gives Beckett a 10-4 dual record and she has 17 overall wins to lead the Bobcats.

The Bobcats were in contention for another point on the No. 4 court where Eva Dench and Michaela Meszarosova split the first two sets with Mezarosova winning the first set by a score of 6-3, and Dench coming back to claim the second set at 6-0. In the third set, Dench was leading 5-4, but Meszarosova rallied to win the final three points in the match and clinch the victory for South Alabama.

Pippa Carr began her match winning a tiebreaker in the first set of her No. 3 match against Emily Newton, 7-6, before Newton came back to win the second set by a score of 6-3. The match was halted with Newton leading in the third set after Meszarosova won the deciding match.

The loss drops Texas State’s overall record to 9-7 this season and gives the Bobcats their first winning season since 2012.

This Bobcat Sports Update is courtesy of Texas State Athletics