Bobcats Snatch Series From NCAA Champs

Texas State uses five-run seventh to come from behind and defeat #20 Coastal Carolina.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team defeated No. 20 Coastal Carolina 10-7 Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark to claim a Sun Belt Conference series victory.

The Bobcats (12-8, 2-1 SBC) handed the Chanticleers (12-9, 1-2 SBC) their first series loss since 2015 when they were members of the Big South Conference.

The maroon and gold now leads the league in victories so far this season, and they are also 9-2 in the month of March.

Texas State came out firing with three runs through the opening two frames, and the visitors were only able to muster one tally in response during that time.

CCU plated three runs each in the fifth and sixth innings and the contest looked to be all done and dusted, but the Bobcats erupted for five in the seventh to come from behind and earn the series triumph.

Nine of the 10 runs scored by Texas State came with two outs. The home club outhit the Chanticleers 14-10 and did not commit an error.

Sophomore Jonathan Ortega led TXST with a 3-for-5 effort while scoring three runs and hitting his third homer of the season. Sophomore Jaylen Hubbard and juniors Luke Sherley, Theodore Hoffman and Jared Huber all had a pair hits.

Hubbard drove in three and scored once, Huber had the two game-winning RBIs and Sherley scored twice and drove in one run. Sophomore Ryan Newman also scored twice.

True freshman Nicholas Fraze lasted 5.1 innings on the mound in a no-decision effort. He allowed six runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking three. Sophomore Brayden Theriot (1-0) logged the final 3.2 innings and squashed the Chanticleer offense to earn his first win of the season. He did not concede a run and only allowed one hit while fanning three batters.

Zack Hopeck (1-2) was tagged for five runs on four hits in just 1.2 frames to take the loss. Starter Jason Bilous went just 4.1 innings and gave up four runs on six hits before being pulled.

Kevin Woodall, Jr. entered the weekend as the nation’s home run leader, but the junior slugger was only able to muster four bloop singles total in the three games against the Bobcats.

Seth Lancaster was 3-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored, and Cory Wood (2-for-3) was the only other member of the visiting side with multiple hits.

Texas State will now gear up for its final game of the recent 13-game homestand, as the Bobcats will play host to Texas at 6 p.m. March 21. TXST will then hit the road for a three-game SBC series against Appalachian State March 24-26.

TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON

Opening Statement…

“Winning two out of three against the defending national champions is significant for a lot of different reasons. The biggest thing is this weekend was great college baseball. We’re incredibly excited and proud that we won today. The atmosphere was loud, festive and exciting. Both teams were punching and being punched. They were both playing hard and doing it the way the game is supposed to be played. (Coastal Carolina) is a great team, obviously. They’re the defending national champions. They’re running pretty good arms out there, as well. All the way through it, our guys were competing. That’s all I want from them. We talked to them about being able to compete three days in a row, not just one. To be able to do three days in a row is the mark of a good team. We are a team that can do good things, and they certainly showed that today.”

On the five-run seventh inning…

“A lot of times things like that come down to execution. What our guys executed more than anything was their ability to compete. Nine of the 10 runs we scored today came with two outs, and all five runs in the seventh were with two outs. That’s the mark of a team that has tremendous competitive spirit. That’s a team that isn’t just going to give the inning away and say ‘well, let’s go to the next one’.”

On Jared Huber’s game-winning single…

“That was a huge moment. He did a great job catching today. To be able to shuffle two guys behind the plate is huge so we can keep guys fresh. He had a fresh barrel at the end of the game. Sometimes that’s hard to have when you catch for three-straight games. He’s a competitive catcher. When you look at him on paper and ask if that guy is going to get a hit in that situation, most people are going to tell you probably not. More importantly, people’s hearts and their competitiveness came out today to get in there and will something to happen. When you have that, you set yourself up for an opportunity to succeed.”

On the pitching…

“Nicholas Fraze was good today. We probably left him out there too long. It was his game (after five innings), but we let him go back out there in the sixth. It was a big moment in his growth for him to earn that ability to go back out there. He was really good today. (Coastal Carolina) did not barrel up a ton of baseballs. If you watch (Brayden) Theriot coming off the field in the seventh and eighth innings, he’s hollering and screaming. That’s raw emotion. That bleeds out into the rest of the team in the dugout. You saw our offense build off that. That was a big moment for him, and it helped us win.”

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

——————————————-

Coastal Carolina…. 010 033 000 –  7 10  2

Texas State……… 210 010 51X – 10 14  0

——————————————-

Win – Theriot, B. (1-0). Loss – Hopeck, Z. (1-2). Save – None.