Bobcats Bounce Back with 4-1 Victory

by Joshua Flanagan

SAN MARCOS – Texas State scored early against Troy on Sunday with a run in both the first and second innings to give starterJonathan Hennigan support as he retired nine straight to start the game. He went on to strike out seven batters and only gave up one run while Pasquale Mazzoccoli cleaned up the last 2.1 innings for his 10^th save of the season. Led by Cory Geisler at the plate (3-for-4), the Bobcats beat Troy, 4-1, to salvage the series with a win in the finale to improve to 23-22 overall and 11-10 in the Sun Belt Conference.

In addition to Geisler, Ryan Newman and Tanner Hill each struck two hits apiece while four others finished with a hit, including Luke Sherley who finished 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI on a sacrifice bunt in the second inning.

On the mound, Hennigan and Mazzoccoli combined for 10 strikeouts in the game. With Mazzoccoli’s 10^th save, he is just one shy of the season record while Hennigan put together his second consecutive quality start.

The Bobcats will look to keep the momentum rolling into Tuesday’s midweek game at UTSA at 6:30 p.m.

WHO STOOD OUT

Jonathan Hennigan / RHP / Junior / Center, Texas

The junior from Center made his second consecutive quality start, going 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts on Sunday. He only gave up one run and one walk in 106 pitches and kept the Troy Trojans off balance all day. He started the game by teaming up with the defense to retire nine consecutive batters.

Pasquale Mazzoccoli / RHP / Senior / Katy, Texas

Mazzoccoli closed out the final 2.1 innings with three strikeouts to earn his 10^th save of the season. He is now just one save shy of the season record for Texas State. He entered the game with runners at the corners and two outs, and made a great play on a comebacker to finish Troy’s at bat. He then struck out two in the eighth and one in the ninth to secure the victory.

Cory Geisler / OF/LHP / Senior / Spring, Texas

Geisler paced the Bobcats at the plate with a 3-for-4 hitting day, scoring once. The three hits boosted his batting average to .321 from .296 to start the weekend. He scored the first run of the game after hitting a first-inning double and followed that with a single in the fifth and a double in the seventh to provide a spark in the lineup all day for the Bobcats.

SCORING RECAP

–       Bottom 1^st – Cory Geisler hit a double, and Tanner Hill brought him in with a double to deep left field. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

–       Bottom 2^nd – Derek Scheible hit a one-out double and took third base on a wild pitch. Luke Sherley laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring him in and put the Bobcats up 2-0. (1 run, 1 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

–       Top 4^th – Troy hit a double and took third on a wild pitch. A walk put runners at the corners. The Trojans knocked a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the deficit in half, 2-1. (1 run, 1 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

–       Bottom 7^th – Sherley led off with a single through the left side, and Mickey Scott pushed him to second base on a sacrifice bunt. A base knock to left centerfield for Jonathan Ortega plated Sherley to put the Bobcats up, 3-1. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

–       Bottom 8^th – Ryan Newman singled through the right side to start the inning, and Jacob Almendarez entered the game to pinch run. He went to second base on a sacrifice bunt and third on a groundout. The speedy Almendarez scored on a wild pitch to push the Bobcat lead to 4-1. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

NOTES

–       Scoring a run in the bottom of the first, Texas State claimed the team’s first lead of the series vs. Troy. The Bobcats would not give it up en route to the team’s first victory in five games.

–       With two hits on Sunday, Ryan Newman made it four consecutive games in which he’s pelted two hits or more. His batting average was .257 after last weekend’s Saturday game and, in one week, he’s boosted it up to .302. He now has 12 multi-hit games this season.

–       Three hits for Cory Geisler on Sunday gives him seven multi-hit games this year with two just this weekend. He scored his first run on Sunday since April 6 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

–       The Bobcats are now 11-0 when they score in the first inning and 18-6 when they score first in a game. They are 19-7 when they outhit opponents.

–       Texas State improved to 7-3 when the team scores four runs this game.

–       With Jonathan Hennigan and Pasquale Mazzoccoli combining for 10 strikeouts, the Bobcats are now 5-5 in games in which the pitching staff throws 10 strikeouts.

–       Knocking 11 hits, the Bobcats now have 21 games this season with double-digit hits.

NEXT UP

Texas State travels to UTSA for this season’s third installment of the I-35 Rivalry at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. After that, the Bobcats will welcome Georgia State to San Marcos for another home series against a Sun Belt Conference opponent.