TXST Ups Unbeaten Streak, Tops App State

Bobcats begin league play on high note; Scheible, Fraze continue hot streaks.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team opened Sun Belt Conference action with an 8-2 triumph over Appalachian State Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.

The Bobcats (11-4-1, 1-0 SBC) improved their unbeaten streak to nine games, while the Mountaineers (5-10, 0-1 SBC) have now dropped six of their last seven overall.

The maroon and gold belted a season-high 14 hits, led by three each from seniors Derek Scheible and Luke Sherley. Both upperclassmen went yard and combined for four RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Jonathan Ortega went 2-for-5 and tied his season high with three runs batted in. Senior Jared Huber went 2-for-2 and scored twice.

Ortega ignited the offense with a two-out, two-run RBI single in the bottom of the second for the game’s opening runs. App State countered with a solo home run in the top of the third, but Sherley answered right back in the home half of the frame with a blast of his own that put TXST on top 3-1.

Ortega and Sherley tallied additional RBI singles in the fourth. The four-run frame was highlighted by Scheible’s sixth home run in his last nine games.

The Bobcats added one final insurance run in the seventh on an RBI double from Jared Huber. The Mountaineers could only muster one more run in the top of the ninth.

Sophomore starting pitcher Nicholas Fraze (4-1) tossed 6.0 innings and tallied a career-high eight strikeouts. He conceded one run on three hits, while walking two. Junior Braden Pearson went the next 2.1 frames and allowed one run on three hits, while striking out two and walking one. Junior Kyle Bradford entered in the ninth and struck out the two batters he faced.

TXST improved to 5-0 all-time in the first game of league play since joining the SBC in 2014.

Kendall McGowan was the lone Mountaineer with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 and scoring once. Starter Andrew Vaccacio (1-4) went 3.1 frames and suffered the loss after conceding six runs on nine hits. Bobby Hampton allowed one run on one hit across the next 0.2 innings, and Will Sprinkle tossed the final 4.0 frames. He gave up one run on four hits.

The two squads will continue the weekend series at 4 p.m. tonight, March 17. The finale is slated for a 11 a.m. start on March 18.

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

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Appalachian State… 001 000 001 –  2  6  1

Texas State……… 021 400 100 –  8 14  0

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Win – Fraze, N. (4-1). Loss – Vaccacio, A. (1-4). Save – None.