Cats Break Attendance Mark, Topple UT In Extras

The home club loaded the bases with no outs against UT’s closer, and Sherley roped a two-RBI single and later scored the game-tying run to send the contest into extras.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team defeated Texas 11-10 in 10 innings Tuesday night at Bobcat Ballpark.

The win was the first all-time for the Bobcats (13-8) at home, and it also set a new all-time attendance mark of 3,017 fans. The Longhorns (13-10) suffered their seventh one-run loss of the season and have now dropped four straight overall.

After battling back to tie the game on four different occasions, the Bobcats were finally able to take their first lead in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 10th inning. The game-winning hit came off the bat of junior Luke Sherley, who’s single to shallow right center drove in sophomore Ryan Newman and set the record crowd into a frenzy.

This was the fourth walk-off hit of the season for TXST (Purdue, Feb. 18 / Richmond, March 5 / Coastal Carolina, March 17).

Texas initially took a 2-0 lead before the Bobcats had a chance to bat, but the early deficit was quickly erased as the maroon and gold scored twice in the home half of the frame.

UT scored a solo tally in the fourth, but TXST answered in the home half of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Both teams scored twice in the sixth, but the Longhorns plated four runs across the seventh and eighth frames to take a seemingly commanding 9-5 advantage.

Texas State countered with two in the home half of the eighth, but Texas extended its advantage to 10-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

The home club loaded the bases with no outs against UT’s closer, and Sherley roped a two-RBI single and later scored the game-tying run to send the contest into extras. He then made an impressive play in the field to end the Longhorns’ threat in the top of the 10th before recording the walk-off hit in the bottom of the first extra frame. 

Texas entered the game with a team ERA of 2.75, but the Longhorns’ earned-run average ballooned to 3.06 after allowing a season-high 11 runs.

Sherley went 4-for-5 to tie for a career-high in hits. He recorded hits in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings. He also drove in a career-high four runs and scored in both the eighth and ninth frames.

Sophomore Jaylen Hubbard registered a career-high in hits (4-for-5), and sophomore Jacob Almendarez went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Junior Theodore Hoffman went 2-for-6 with two runs scored, and sophomore Ryan Newman scored three times.

Junior Blake Walden (5-0) earned the win on the mound and is now tied for the nation’s lead in that category. He threw the final 2.2 frames and gave up just one run on two hits while striking out two.

Junior Cam Baird started the contest and logged the first 4.0 frames. He conceded three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three. Senior Brandon Courville, sophomore Anthony Pagano and true freshmen Zachary Leigh and Shane Daughety also saw time on the mound.

Junior Cam Baird started the contest and logged the first 4.0 frames. He conceded three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three. Senior Brandon Courville, sophomore Anthony Pagano and true freshmen Zachary Leigh and Shane Daughety also saw time on the mound.

Tate Shaw finished 4-for-6 with four RBIs to pace the Longhorns. Travis Jones went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored. Michael McCann, Bret Boswell and David Hamilton all had two hits, while Hamilton scored twice.

Parker Joe Robinson (0-1) was tagged with the loss after conceding the walk-off single to Sherley. He pitched the last 1.2 innings. Starter Nick Kennedy entered the game with a 0.75 ERA but was tagged for five runs (four earned) on eight hits, while striking out five. His ERA jumped to 2.65.

Texas State outhit Texas 18-15, and both teams committed a pair of errors.

The Bobcats (2-1 Sun Belt) will now venture to Boone, North Carolina, March 24-26 for a three-game SBC showdown with Appalachian State. TXST has been on the road for just one series this season, while the Mountaineers have only played at home once in 2017.

TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON

Opening Statement…

“Winning a game against this team always feels a little more special. You can tell just by looking at the crowd tonight. That’s always been for Texas, wherever they go. There are going to be large crowds, and they’re going to draw people. It’s great for our community and our university. It’s important to our university for us to be able to play them here. I have to thank (Texas) for coming down here, because they don’t have to. It’s a great thing for us. It’s fun for our school and our students. I’m excited for our student body and I’m excited for our city. I’m also excited for our players.”

On breaking the all-time attendance record…

“We had an idea going into tonight that it was going to be a nice crowd. I didn’t realize how many people were going to be here or just how intense and loud it would be tonight. I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate our fans. We’ve had great support over the last few years, but to see more than 3,000 people here on a night like tonight. The weather was beautiful. The crowd was beautiful. The game certainly ended that way for us.”

On the team continuing to find ways to win…

“In the eighth inning I went out to the mound and just told our guys to keep playing – somehow, someway just keep getting after it. We did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong tonight. But the one consistent that this bunch has had is that they don’t quit. The other team scores, we come back and score. They refuse to quit. The competitive heart and the competitive spirit is hard to find. When you get that, you have to keep it. That’s certainly what we have right now.”

On how the win feels after losing in dramatic fashion last year…

“You can probably go ask Luke Sherley right now what it means. In the ninth inning of last year’s game, he hit a ball that turned into an out at the plate. It looked like it might be a similar situation in the ninth when (Jared) Huber (hit into a fielder’s choice). Knowing Luke like I do, he has waited for this opportunity. It doesn’t always create itself, so I was excited for him that it worked out and turned out the way it did. A lot of these guys were on the team last year, and it was a tough loss for them. But time moves on, and tonight was an exciting night for us.”

Score by Innings                      R  H  E

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Texas…………… 200 102 131 0 – 10 15  2

Texas State……… 200 012 023 1 – 11 18  2

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Win – Walden, B. (5-0). Loss – Robinson (0-1). Save – None.