Texas State Baseball Walks Off Cardinals

Bobcat baseball earns third walkoff victory of March; Ortega posts season-high four hits.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The No. 30-ranked Texas State baseball team earned a 6-5 walkoff victory over Incarnate Word Wednesday night at Bobcat Ballpark.

The Bobcats (14-5-1) plated all six runs in the final three frames, which included three runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn the come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals (13-10).

TXST initially fell behind 2-0 when UIW plated a pair of runs in the top of the third. The maroon and gold had no answer for Incarnate Word starting pitcher Jake Zatopek, but once he left the game Texas State was able to go to work.

Junior Ryan Newman got the scoring started with his first home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh and, after the Cardinals posted a solo shot of their own in the next frame, the Bobcats were able to tie the game at 3-3 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Incarnate Word scored twice in the top of the ninth and appeared to be on its way to victory, but Texas State had other ideas. Senior Jared Huber led off the comeback with a one-out single followed by classmate Mickey Scott being hit by a pitch.

Junior Jonathan Ortega loaded the bases on an infield single, and senior Derek Scheible flew out to right field for an RBI sacrifice fly to bring the deficit to just one run.

Senior Luke Sherley filled the bags right back up by drawing a four-pitch walk, and junior Jaylen Hubbard ripped a double to left center that scored Scott and Ortega and lifted Texas State to victory.

The triumph marked TXST’s third walkoff win in March and the second in four days for Hubbard. The Bobcats also earned walkoff victories over Stephen F. Austin (March 4) and Appalachian State (March 17).

Ortega belted a season-high four hits and scored twice in Wednesday’s game. Sherley and Hubbard both had two hits, and Hubbard and Scheible both finished with two RBIs.

Junior Braden Pearson (1-0) recorded the final out of the ninth to earn the second win of his career and first since his true freshman year (2015). Junior Wes Engle took the ball first and tossed a quality start of two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

Ridge Rogers led UIW with a 4-for-5, two-run effort at the dish. Kyle Bergeron, David Anaya and Lee Thomas also tallied a pair of hits in the losing effort, and Anaya drove in three runs.

Zatopek conceded no runs on two hits across the first 4.1 innings to pick up the no-decision. He struck out four and walked one. Bernie Martinez (2-2) was the last pitcher to throw, and he allowed five runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings to suffer the loss.

Texas State upped its win streak to seven-straight games over Incarnate Word dating back to the last loss to the Cardinals on Feb. 8, 2000.

The Bobcats will now hit the road for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against No. 27 Coastal Carolina March 23-25 in Conway, S.C.

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

———————————————

Incarnate Word…….002 000 012 –  5 12  1

Texas State……… 000 000 123 –  6 11  1

———————————————

Win – Pearson, B. (1-0). Loss – Martinez, B. (2-2). Save – None.