Maroon & Gold Weekly Wrap-Up: Men’s & Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Track & Field, Softball And Tennis

Maroon & Gold Weekly Wrap-Up:

Men & Women’s Basketball, Baseball,

Track & Field, Softball And Tennis

Reich Dominates on the Mound in Shutout of No. 24 Missouri State

SAN MARCOS, Texas –Senior Connor Reich had a dominate performance on the mound as the Texas State baseball team defeated 24-ranked Missouri State 10-0 Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark.

The right-hander tossed 6.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and retired the first 15 batters he faced before giving up his lone hit of the contest.

Reich earned the victory to improve to 1-0 on the season. It was also hits 10th career win since arriving at Texas State. Suffering the loss was the MSU’s Alex Moore, who went 2.2 innings while allowing five runs on six hits and three walks.

With the win, the Bobcats conclude the Texas State Tournament with a 2-1 record while the Bears fall to 1-2.

The scoring started in the first when Ryan Newman doubled to right field to drive in a run and put two in scoring position. Skyler Valentine followed with a ground out to second that brought home John Wuthrich and increase the lead to 2-0.

Jacob Almendarez increased the advantage to three in the second when he hit a bloop single down the right field line the following inning.

Two more runs were added in the third. One run crossed the plate when Chase Evans flew out down the right field line and Newman was able to tag up and score. Felipe Rodriguez followed with a single to left field to plate a run.

Jaxon Williams singled to center with one gone in the fifth. He came around the score when Evans ripped a double to left center to make it a 6-0 advantage for TXST.

In the seventh, Skyler Valentine drew a walk to leadoff the frame and then stole second to move into scoring position. Williams drew another walk to put two runners. Following a pitching change, Evans Laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher to move both runners into scoring position.

Rodriguez then put down a perfect suicide bunt to plate Valentine and move Williams to third. After a walk drawn by Almendarez, Dalton Shuffield hit a chopper back to the pitcher, who overthrew the first baseman that allowed both Almendarez and Williams to score and make it a 9-0 lead.

The final run of the game came in the eighth when Evans hit a single back up the middle that drove in Wuthrich.
 
Finishing the game for Texas State were Kyle Bradford and Brent Hebert. Bradford threw a perfect 1.1 inning with a strikeout. Hebert gave up a hit in his scoreless inning of work that saw Riley King dive to make diving snag on a line drive hit back up the middle for the second out of the ninth.

At the plate, Evans finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs, one run score and a stolen base in his first-ever action as a Bobcat. Williams was the only other TXST player that had multiple hits with two.

The Rosenberg, Texas native was one of three players to score two runs, along with Valentine and Wuthrich.

Next up for TXST is a home game against Baylor, which was ranked as high as 15 in the preseason polls, on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

For all things Texas State baseball, be sure to follow the team on Instagram and Twitter.

Men’s Basketball Team Wins Fourth Straight
Game with a 67-60 Victory at Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –Nijal Pearson scored 23 points and Eric Terry and Tre’Larenz Nottingham combined for 23 more to lead the Texas State men’s basketball team to a 67-60 victory at Little Rock on Saturday afternoon in the Jack Stephens Center.

Terry ended the game with 12 points after making six layups. Nottingham, who finished with 11 points and a game-high six rebounds, scored nine of his points in the first half to lead Texas State (21-5, 10-3 Sun Belt Conference) to a 36-26 lead at halftime.

Pearson scored the first five points in the game when he drove for a layup and hit a three-point shot from the top of the key. Little Rock rallied to take a 15-11 lead with 10:51 left in the opening half.

But Terry made two of his layups on Texas State’s next two possessions to begin a 15-0 run as Texas State took a 26-15 lead and never trailed again in the game.

The Bobcats were leading 44-33 before Little Rock rallied to close the margin to four points, 57-53, with 4:43 left to play.

Texas State pushed the lead back to eight with a pair of layups from Pearson and Nottingham, combined with two free throws by Jaylen Shead to make the score 63-55.

Little Rock (10-16, 5-8 Sun Belt) rallied one last time when Rayjon Tucker, who led the home team with 20 points, made a layup to pull the Trojans back to within 63-60 with 1:26 left to play.

However, the Bobcats were able to clinch the victory with Mason Harrell and Pearson each hitting a pair of free throws to make the final score 67-60.

The victory gives Texas State 21 regular season wins for the first time since 1993-94 when the Bobcats won 22 games during the regular season in route to a 25-7 final record.

The Bobcats also recorded their fourth straight win and have sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings.

Texas State will try to win its fifth straight game next Thursday in Strahan Arena when the Bobcats host ULM in a Sun Belt game that tips off at 7 p.m.

Championship Season! Bobcats enter 2019 Sun Belt
Conference Indoor Championships with 50 top 10 league marks

SAN MARCOS, Texas –The Texas State track and field teams are geared up and ready to compete in the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships that will be held Feb. 18-19 at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.

Entering the meet, the Bobcats have totaled 50 top 10 Sun Belt Conference marks throughout the season; 26 on the women’s side and 24 on the men’s side. Of those top 10 marks, 15 of them sit in the top three.

How to Follow

Live stats will be done by Delta Timing and both days will be streamed live on ESPN+. Day one can be watched here and day two will be at this link.

Day one of the championship meet is slated to begin with four events of the heptathlon at 9 a.m. The first field event of the day will be the 35 lb. weight throw at noon and the first track event will be the preliminary round of the 800-meter run.

Day two will begin at 9 a.m., completing the heptathlon followed by the pentathlon at 9:20 a.m. The men’s triple jump will begin at noon and the first finals event on the track will be the women’s mile run at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, you can access the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships Central Page at the following link.

Top of Their Game

Two-time Outstanding Track Athlete senior Tramesha Hardy is the three-time reigning champion in the women’s 200-meter dash (2016-2018) and has won the women’s 60-meter dash championship title in 2017 and 2018. S

he has the top time in the 200-meter dash this season at 23.71 seconds that was ran at the 2019 Mark Colligan Memorial (Jan. 26), and also timed out at 7.44 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the same meet for the second fastest time in the conference.

Junior Devina Schneider, last year’s champion in the women’s 3000-meter run, has the top time and school record in the mile run (4:52.88 – Jaguar Invitational Feb. 3), and has the second-best time in the league at 9:51.61 in the 3000-meter run (2019 Mark Colligan Memorial Jan. 26) behind teammate junior Leslie Romero (9:51.31 – Ted Nelson Invitational Jan. 11).

Four-year seniors Kylah Smith (women’s 60-meter hurdles – 8.38, 2019 Mark Colligan Memorial Jan. 26) and T’Mond Johnson (men’s shot put- 18.79m; 61-7.75, Ted Nelson Invitational Jan. 11) are the other two athletes for Texas State to enter the championship meet as the standard in their respective events.

Smith won the gold medal last year in the 60-meter hurdles, and Johnson is the back-to-back conference champion in the shot put. Junior Ben Collerton will be in action in the multi events after winning the heptathlon last year with a count of 5,115 points.

For more championship notes, click here.

Be sure to keep up with Texas State Track and Field by following the team on Twitter and Instagram.

TXST earns Arkansas sweep, topples LR 50-48

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women’s basketball team (11-14, 6-7 Sun Belt) upset the Sun Belt Conference-leading Little Rock Trojans (15-9, 11-2 Sun Belt) by a score of 50-48 on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena.

The victory gave the Bobcats a sweep of the Arkansas schools at Strahan Arena. The sweep is the first home weekend sweep of the season for Texas State. Since joining the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State holds a 4-1 record against LR at home.

“I am so proud of this team,” head coach Zenarae Antoine said. “This is a big win for us, and I am so proud of how this team battled on the defensive end. Our zone was fast today, and I think that threw Little Rock off. I think this team has turned the corner, and that excites me.”

Junior guard Bailey Holle led the Bobcats with 13 points off the bench. She converted 3-of-4 shot attempts and 5-of-6 tries from the free throw line in 21 minutes of play.

Junior guard Brooke Holle and senior guard Toshua Leavitt each registered 11 points. Br. Holle added seven rebounds, while Leavitt handed out four assists.

Senior forward Ronjanae DeGray, the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year, scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting and collected six rebounds to lead the Trojans.

The lid was left on the baskets for both teams to open the game. Little Rock led after the first 10 minutes by a score of 9-5 despite shooting 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from the floor. Texas State struggled to knock down quality looks and shot 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) in the first quarter.

The game began to open up in the second quarter when Ba. Holle was inserted into the lineup. She scored nine points and grabbed three offensive rebounds in the frame to spark the Bobcats.

She canned a baseline 3-pointer to knot the score at 18-18 with 5:30 left in the half before drilling another at the 1:23 mark off her own offensive rebound. TXST outscored LR 20-15 in the quarter to take a 25-24 lead into the halftime break.

Fast forward to the fourth quarter. Little Rock outscored Texas State 14-5 in the first 5:20 of the frame to take a 48-43 lead with 4:40 to play. The lead was the largest of the game for the Trojans.

Br. Holle answered the call with a wing 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to pull the Cats within a pair at 48-46. With the game tied at 48, she hit the go-ahead free throw at the 1:45 mark on the clock.

Texas State held Little Rock without a point in the final 4:40 of the fourth quarter. The Cats closed the game on a 7-0 run to steal a victory from the league’s top team.

Up next, Texas State will hit the road for the final weekend away from San Marcos in the regular season. The Bobcats will play at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 at ULM before taking on Louisiana at 2 p.m. on Feb. 23 from the Cajundome.

For all things Texas State women’s basketball, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Texas State ends Troy Cox Classic with a 7-5 win

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Texas State softball team (5-4) outlasted Montana (1-9) on Sunday morning at the N.M. State Softball Complex, winning by a final score of 7-5.

KEY MOMENTS

• In the bottom of the first inning, sophomore infielder ArieAnn Bell drove a double to left center to score junior infielder Bailee Carter. The RBI was the fourth of the tournament for Bell.

• Sophomore infielder Tara Oltmann sliced a bases-loaded single into the left field grass to plate a pair of runs. Junior infielder Hailey MacKay followed Oltmann’s lead with an RBI single up the middle to give the Bobcats a 5-0 lead after two innings.

• After giving up four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 5-5, Oltmann batted in her third run of the game on an RBI fielder’s choice. The Bobcats would tack on another run on a steal play to bring the game to the final score of 7-5.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The top of the Bobcat lineup turned in a productive day on the offensive end. The first five batters in the lineup combined to go 7-for-15 at the plate with six runs scored.

• Both Carter and junior outfielder Christiana McDowell finished the game with two hits and three runs scored.

• Sophomore pitcher Meagan King (2-3) earned the victory in a relief role. She pitched 2.0 innings and allowed one earned run on three hits.

NOTABLES

• With another hit today, McDowell is on a seven-game hitting streak. During the streak she is hitting .609 (14-for-23) with five RBI, three extra-base hits, 12 runs scored, and six stolen bases. McDowell has registered five multi-hit games early in the 2019 season.

• Oltmann drove in a season-high three runs in the victory. She entered the Montana game with three total RBI.

• Junior pitcher Dalilah Barrera started the game and pitched the first 5.0+ innings. She concluded her day with eight strikeouts, the third consecutive appearance in which she has fanned at least seven batters when pitching 5.0 innings or more.

ON DECK

• The Bobcats will be back at home for a 5 p.m. first pitch on Feb. 20 against Sam Houston State at Bobcat Softball Stadium. Texas State will be back for more tournament play over the weekend as participants in the USF-Rawlings Invitational.

For all things Texas State softball, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Texas State Women’s Tennis Shuts Out Stephen F. Austin 7-0

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women’s tennis team won their third match of the season when the Bobcats shut out Stephen F. Austin 7-0 Sunday afternoon at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.

Texas State (3-4) began the day capturing the team doubles point by winning two of three doubles matches. First, Joy Chia Ming Ming and Sofia Murcia Rodriguez defeated Mera Carvalho and Armelle Cerdan by a score of 6-2 on the No. 3 court. Then, Rishona Israel-Lewis and Josefina Cassara beat Nida Kamal and Darinka Tiboldi, 6-3, in the No. 2 match to clinch the point.

Texas State also won four singles matches in dominant fashion. Ana Perez, Israel-Lewis and Murcia-Rodriguez won each of their matches by scores of 6-2, 6-2.

Perez won the top-seeded match against Gabi Guilarte, Israel-Lewis beat Tiboldi in the No. 2 match and Murcia-Rodriguez beat Carvalho in the No. 6 contest. Chia Ming Ming also won the No. 5-seeded match by a score of 6-1, 6-2 over Kamal.

Julia Navajo-Melendez won the first set of her No. 3 match against Cerdan by a score of 6-4. In the second set, Cerdan jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Navajo-Melendez came back to win the next six points to capture the set the by a score of 6-4 to clinch the victory.

In the No. 4 match, Cassara won the first set of her match against Kaja Ljubic by the score of 7-6 after winning a 7-4 tiebreaker. Cassara came back to win the second set and clinch the victory by the score of 6-2.

The Bobcats return to action at March 9-10 at the Bobcat Tennis Complex. They host I-35 rival UTSA March 9 at 11 a.m. and Missouri State March 10 at 11 a.m.