No. 3 Texas A&M Too Much For Bobcats

By, Joshua Flanagan

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies, currently No. 3 in the country, have been rolling as of late, hitting .370 over the past eight games. The powerful team proved to be too much for the Bobcats, winning, 14-1, to drop Texas State to 20-17 on the season.

With six runs in the first three innings, the Aggies grabbed a 6-1 lead from which the Bobcats couldn’t fight back. Texas State pelted seven hits in the game and scored a run in the second inning sparked by a two-out double from Jaylen Hubbard. Jared Huber knocked in the RBI for the Bobcats. Unfortunately, Texas A&M added five runs in the sixth inning and three more in the eighth.

This weekend, Texas State will look to get back on track at UL Lafayette.

WHO STOOD OUT

Jaylen Hubbard / IF/OF / Redshirt Freshman / Missouri City, Texas

Hubbard knocked the first hit of the game for the Bobcats, a liner to left field that hit the wall just below the yellow line. After that, he skied high defensively to snag a high bouncer and get it to first base in time for the out and followed that with his second hit of the day in the seventh inning. He finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Chase Hodson / RHP / Senior / Richmond, Texas

Hodson only pitched two innings but he struck out three to lead all Bobcats on the night. One of his strikeouts was against Boomer White, a player who had only struck out seven times all season before he faced Hodson.

Braden Pearson / LHP / Sophomore / Georgetown, Texas

Pearson faced five batters Tuesday night and did not give up a hit over an inning and a third.

SCORING RECAP

• Bottom 1st – A walk, base hit and a fly out put runners at the corners. Hunter Melton double to left center scored two runs. A single and a groundout after that plated one more for Texas A&M for an early 3-0 lead. (3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Top 2nd – Jaylen Hubbard knocked a two-out double to jumpstart the Bobcats. After that, Luke Sherley took a hit by pitch. With runners at first and second, Jared Huber hit a single to right field to plate Hubbard and put the Bobcats on the board, 3-1. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
• Bottom 2nd – Walk, hit by pitch and a base hit scored one for Texas A&M. Next, a single and a groundout scored another for the Aggies. (2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 left on base)
• Bottom 3rd – Walker Pennington hit a solo home run. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Bottom 6th – A hit by pitch and a double put runners at second and third base for Melton. He followed with a single to centerfield to plate both runs. After that, a double to left field pushed Melton to third base, and a walk after that loaded the bases. Designated hitter Joel Davis cleared the bases with a triple to push Texas A&M’s lead up to 11-1. (5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
• Two walks and the second home run of the night from Pennington pushed the Aggie lead to 14-1. (3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

NOTES

• Tuesday marked the first time this season Granger Studdard hit second in the lineup and the first time Tanner Hill hit third in the lineup.
• Texas A&M is the second ranked team the Bobcats have faced this season after hosting No. 19 Rice just last week. Now the Bobcats are 0-2 against ranked teams this year.
• The Bobcats have only trailed after one inning four times this season coming into Tuesday’s game. Taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Texas A&M made five games in which the Bobcats trailed after one. Texas State is 0-5 in that situation this year.
• Jared Huber’s RBI in the top of the second inning was his fourth RBI in his last five games.
• The third-inning home run by Texas A&M’s Walker Pennington was the first home run given up this season by Chase Hodson.
• Hodson’s third strikeout of the night came against Boomer White, a player who had only struck out seven times all season to that point.
• With three strikeouts Tuesday, Hodson has now thrown three or more strikeouts in seven appearances this season.
• Jonathan Ortega extended his hitting streak and reached-base streak to six consecutive games with his first hit of the night. With his second hit, he pushed his multiple-hit game total to 15 on the season, tying him with Studdard for the most on the team.
• Studdard knocked a hit in the sixth inning to extend his reached-base streak to seven consecutive games.
• Jaylen Hubbard knocked his second hit of the game in the seventh inning to make it nine multi-hit games for the sophomore this season.
• With back-to-back strikeouts in the eighth inning, Wes Engle tallied multiple strikeouts in a game for the first time in his young career.
• Alec Sanchez notched his first strikeout of the season to close out the eighth inning.

NEXT UP

The Bobcats will continue the team’s road trip with three Sun Belt Conference games at No. 22 UL Lafayette this weekend. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. After that, Texas State will take on the Longhorns in Austin at 6 p.m. Tuesday before returning home to host Troy in an SBC matchup.

Joshua Flanagan, Texas State University