Texas State Bobcats Wrap Up Sweep Over Mountaineers

Bobcats will first travel to San Antonio for a 6 p.m. game March 20 at UTSA before playing host to Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. March 21.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team polished off a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep over Appalachian State with a 7-2 victory in Sunday’s finale from Bobcat Ballpark.

The Bobcats (13-4-1, 3-0 SBC) extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games, while the Mountaineers (5-12, 0-3 SBC) have now dropped eight of their last nine games overall.

TXST also improved to 12-0 all-time against Appalachian State, and the maroon and gold has outscored App 42-8 in six all-time meetings in San Marcos.

The Bobcats quickly put the visitors away in Sunday’s contest, plating three runs in each of the first two frames. They tacked on a seventh marker in the third on true freshman John Wuthrich’s first-collegiate home run, and the Mountaineers could only counter with two responses in the top of the eighth.

For the second time in the series, seniors Derek Scheible and Luke Sherley both hit home runs in the same game. Scheible’s two-run blast came in the bottom of the first, while Sherley hit a three-run bomb in the second.

The dynamic duo combined for five RBIs and three runs scored. Junior Jonathan Ortega went 2-for-4 and also scored twice.

Sophomore Zachary Leigh (1-0) easily surpassed his career highs for innings pitched (7.2) and strikeouts (8) to earn his first-career victory on the mound. He gave up just two runs on three hits, while walking two. Junior Kyle Bradford recorded the final out of the eighth, and classmate Brayden Theriot cleaned up the ninth.

Appalachian State starter Travis Holden (2-2) failed to escape the second inning. He conceded six runs on six hits, while walking one and recording zero strikeouts. Cameron Kepley only gave up one run across the next 3.2 frames, but the visitors needed three additional relievers to get through the remainder of the game.

Alex Leshock was the lone Mountaineer with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. Riley Smith and CJ Brown scored the two runs.

Appalachian State was held to just six runs total in the three-game series. The last time TXST held a Sun Belt opponent to six runs or fewer in a weekend series was when the Mountaineers scored just twice all weekend the last time they traveled to San Marcos on March 18-20, 2016.

Texas State will now have a pair of midweek tilts before heading east to face Coastal Carolina March 23-25. The Bobcats will first travel to San Antonio for a 6 p.m. game March 20 at UTSA before playing host to Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. March 21.

TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON

On Zachary Leigh…

“His stuff was really good today. He responded competitively and started making pitches after (Appalachian State) led off the game with a double. He was very composed. He handled getting off the mound well. He dialed up his changeup when he needed it. I couldn’t tell the difference between his changeup and his breaker, which is a good sign. I was very pleased with his efforts, and I’m certainly excited about how we played defense behind him.”

On the offensive firepower from Luke Sherley and Derek Scheible…

“They take very confident swings. Every once in awhile they get impatient, but they’re older hitters. I’m grateful for what they’ve done, but I’m hopeful they continue in that patient mode of having good, quality at-bats. Both of those guys are really locked in to what they’re trying to do and what they’re trying to become. It’s fun to see older guys who have that level of commitment.”

On the bullpen…

“Kyle Bradford came in and did fine. Brayden Theriot gave up the two hits, but he was able to settle back in. The big thing is they’re throwing it in there (for strikes). We’re not creating a whole lot of innings with walks. With the way our defense has been playing, I’d probably be throwing it in there, too. They’re playing at such a high level right now. I was proud of our bullpen all weekend. They came in and did well.”

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

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Appalachian State… 000 000 020 –  2  6  0

Texas State……… 331 000 00X –  6  8  0

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Win – Leigh, Z. (1-0). Loss – Holden, T. (2-2). Save – None.