‘Cats Claw Past Longhorns, 3-2

by, Joshua Flanagan

AUSTIN – On a night when both Texas State and the Longhorns were looking to conserve pitching, the Bobcats outplayed them for the team’s first win over Texas since 2005. Texas State busted a 24-game losing streak to the Longhorns with a 3-2 victory to improve to 28-25 Tuesday night.

Adding to the historical feel of the game, Pasquale Mazzoccoli threw three strikeouts in the ninth for his 12^th save of the season, a Texas State record. He is now tied for ninth in the country in saves. Mazzoccoli wasn’t the only pitcher to tally three fannings in the game as Chase Hodson also threw three. With every pitcher throwing just one inning throughout the game, Anthony Pagano and the winning pitcher, Quinn Atwood, added two strikeouts apiece. The nine pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts in the game, matching the team’s highest total this season, and they only gave up five hits to the Longhorns.

While Mazzoccoli ended the game with an exclamation point, freshman Jonathan Ortega started it with a bang. After not getting a hit in the first two meetings against Texas, the Victoria native blasted a leadoff home run to left field to put the Bobcats up early, 1-0.

The Longhorns answered with two runs in the second inning, but couldn’t get anything else off the Bobcats. In the seventh, Mickey Scott tied the game when he drove in Theodore Hoffman, and then the team’s RBI leader, Tanner Hill, came up big in the eighth when he drove a hit through the right side gap that the right fielder couldn’t bring in. Granger Studdard scored on the play and put the Bobcats on top for good.

Texas State has won two in a row and is looking for more as the Bobcats head to Arlington to play UT Arlington in the final series of the regular season, starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

WHO STOOD OUT

Pasquale Mazzoccoli / RHP / Senior / Katy, Texas

Mazzoccoli entered the game in the ninth inning with the weight of a 24-game losing streak on his shoulders. He didn’t show it as he struck out three batters, 1-2-3, to claim his 12^th save of the season, a school record. He passed up Hunter Lemke to set the new record and secure the big win over UT. He is tied for ninth in the country in saves.

Tanner Hill / 1B/C / Senior / San Marcos, Texas

The senior has been known for his Sun Belt-leading 14 home runs this season, but it was a well-placed base hit to the opposite side that put the Bobcats up for good. With a tied game in the eighth inning, Granger Studdard was able to get on base and took second on a blown pickoff play. With him in scoring position, Hill drove the ball through the right side, and the right fielder couldn’t handle the hot grounder. Studdard scored to claim the game.

Jonathan Ortega / 2B / Freshman / Victoria, Texas

Ortega started his third game against Texas determined to not go hitless against the Longhorns in 2016. He made sure that wasn’t the case with a leadoff home run, the second homer to start a game for the Bobcats this season. It’s Ortega’s fourth homer of the year and his 33^rd RBI, good enough for second on the team.

SCORING RECAP

–       Top 1^st – Jonathan Ortega started the game with a solo home run to put the Bobcats up in a hurry. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

–       Bottom 2^nd – Three walks loaded the bases for Texas, and a double to right field scored two runs. (2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left on base)

–       Top 7^th – Theodore Hoffman knocked a single to the outfield and went to second on a blown pickoff play. He took third on a wild pitch, and then Mickey Scott brought him in with a base hit to tie the game, 2-2. (1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 left on base)

–       Granger Studdard ran out an infield single that went off the pitcher’s mound. Like Hoffman, he went to second base on another blown pickoff play. Tanner Hill sent him to third with a base hit through the right side that the right fielder couldn’t handle. On the error, Studdard scored to put the Bobcats on top, 3-2. (1 run, 2 hits, 2 errors, 1 left on base)

NOTES

–       Texas State’s win is the team’s first against Texas since April 27, 2005, 25 meetings. It’s the 10^th win against Texas in the program’s history.

–       The save for Pasquale Mazzoccoli is his 12^th save of the season to put him first all time for saves in a season, breaking the record Hunter Lemke set in 2014. It also puts him three saves away from tying Jeff McVaney for second most saves ever at Texas State. He is currently tied for ninth in the country in saves.

–       His leadoff home run is the fourth home run of the year for Jonathan Ortega. It’s the second time he has led off a game with a home run with the other being the season opener. It was also his first hit against Texas this season.

–       Texas State is 14-0 this season when scoring in the first inning, 22-7 when scoring first, and 12-0 when leading after the first inning.

–       The 13 strikeouts for the pitching staff Tuesday tied the season’s best mark. The nine pitchers who combined for the impressive performance were: starter Brandon Lewis, Brayden Theriot, Anthony Pagano, Nick Perez, Chase Hodson,Braden Pearson, Quinn Atwood, Joe Powell, and Mazzoccoli.

–       Nick Perez made his first appearance on the mound for the Bobcats this season. Usually a position player, Perez threw a three-pitch strikeout against the first batter he faced.

NEXT UP

Texas State next travels to UT Arlington for the final series of the regular season. The Bobcats will play the Mavericks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday before returning to San Marcos to host the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament May 25-29.