May 25, 2012

College Baseball: McVaney owns SFA

Here is a game plan Texas State should have followed prior to this afternoon’s game against Stephen F. Austin.

A: Clone senior outfielder Jeff McVaney.

B: Repeat Step A seven times.

C: Put redshirt freshman Taylor Black on the mound.

D: Profit.

With how McVaney dominated the Lumberjacks in his career, it would have been a safe game plan.

Entering today’s game, McVaney was 21-of-43 with five home runs and 11 runs batted in against SFA. Not bad, right?

McVaney continued his ownership of the Lumberjacks this afternoon with two home runs and five RBI. His grand slam in the eighth inning put the Bobcats up 7-6.

“You actually do know about it when you come into a game with some extra confidence,” McVaney said. “I’ve had their number since my sophomore year.”

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May 25, 2012

College Baseball: No tournament magic for the Bobcats

And just like that, the 2012 baseball season is over for Texas State.

Two days after trouncing Stephen F. Austin, 11-1, the Bobcats were knocked out of the Southland Conference Tournament by the Lumberjacks. SFA topped Texas State, 9-7.

The Bobcats showed heart, mounting a rally in the eighth inning down by three runs. Texas State loaded the bases off two consecutive singles (Garrett Mattlage and Tyler Sibley) and a walk (Morgan Mickan), then Jeff McVaney cleared them with one swing. McVaney crushed a grand slam to put the Bobcats up 7-6. It was McVaney’s second home run of the afternoon.

Then the Lumberjacks answered with a lead-off home run in the bottom half to tie the game. Two batters later, SFA took the lead for good with a two-run home run by Bobby Loveless.

 

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May 25, 2012

College Baseball: Déjà Vu

Thanks to shoddy defense and poor execution at the plate, Texas State finds itself back in the losers’ bracket of the Southland Conference Tournament. The Bobcats committed five errors and left 13 men on base in a 7-1 loss to Southeastern Louisiana.

Now, Texas State must win out in order to prolong its season. The Bobcats can’t lose another game or they will be eliminated from any further postseason consideration.

It was an eerily similar game to the second time Texas State and the Lions met up. Back on April 14, the Bobcats committed four errors and allowed five unearned runs to score in an 8-1 loss at SLU. Texas State was swept by the Lions in Hammond, La.

To wit, here is junior left-handed pitcher Colton Turner‘s line from the game on April 14 — 3.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 2 WP. Here is Turner’s line from Thursday night — 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 WP.

The Bobcats play Stephen F. Austin for the second time in three days Friday at noon. Win, and Texas State has a rematch with the Lions. Lose, and the Bobcats’ season is over.

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May 24, 2012

College Athletics: Bobcat Stadium Expansion Update

Well, Texas State sports fans, it looking like the bowling in of Bobcat Stadium is nearly complete.

This morning, Anita Miller of the San Marcos Daily Record went up in a helicopter to shoot pictures of the submarine theater removal at Spring Lake. While up in the sky, she hovered by Bobcat Stadium and decided to take a few pictures.

An aerial view of Bobcat Stadium as taken by Anita Miller.

It shouldn’t be long now until it is completely bowled in. Texas State will open the renovated stadium Sept. 8 against Texas Tech.

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May 24, 2012

College Baseball: Bobcats shake off past failures

It took three years, but Texas State finally handled business in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament. The Bobcats won their first game for the first time in three years with an 11-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin.

An unrelenting offensive attack paced Texas State to the win, as Ty Harrington‘s bunch got multiple runs batted in from Casey Kalenkosky, Isaac Nuti and Colby Targun. Kalenkosky crushed a two-run home run in the first inning, while Nuti and Targun added two-out singles later in the game. Morgan Mickan also had a big day, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored.

Junior pitcher Travis Ballew was “good enough” (Harrington’s words) on the mound. Ballew tossed a shortened complete game, struck out five and scattered seven hits. He earned his 11th win of the season, putting him one behind William Brunson, who owns the single-season school record with 12.

Texas State takes on Southeastern Louisiana tonight at 7 p.m.

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May 19, 2012

College Softball: Aggies end Texas State’s season

Texas State (39-17) watched its season end in a 7-4 loss to Texas A&M (41-17) in the College Station Regional.

Here is a brief look at the numbers from the game…

  • 5 — Home runs by the Aggies. All of which came with two outs.
  • 4 — Home runs allowed by the Bobcats’ Chandler Hall.
  • 2 — Home runs by Texas A&M pitcher Mel Dumezich, bringing her season total to 20.
  • 11 — Runners left on base by the Bobcats.
  • 4 — Hits by Texas State freshman shortstop Selena Hernandez in four at-bats.
  • 8-for-12, 3 R, 1 RBI — Combined line of Hernandez, junior outfielder Brooke Baker and junior first baseman Haley Lemons.
  • 7 — Two-out hits allowed by Hall.
  • 12 — Ground-ball outs by the Aggies, which led to A&M head coach Jo Evans singing high praise of the Bobcats’ defense after the game.

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May 19, 2012

College Softball: Bring on the Aggies

Texas State survived its first elimination game of the College Station Regional. The Bobcats knocked off Bethune-Cookman, 5-3, to advance to the regional semifinal.

In the win, Texas State was led by junior Shelby Carline, who went 2-for-2 with a single, double and a run scored. Junior left-handed pitcher Anne Marie Taylor didn’t have her best stuff in the circle, allowing base runners in five of the seven innings and a three-run home run, but she picked up her 17th win of the season.

The Bobcats now get Texas A&M in another elimination game. If Texas State beats the Aggies, who lost to Louisiana State earlier in the afternoon, it heads to the championship against the Tigers.

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May 18, 2012

College Softball: Backs against the wall

Texas State now has its backs squarely against the wall in the College Station Regional.

The Bobcats fell to Louisiana State, 1-0, in the opening round, putting themselves in a win-or-go-home situation the rest of the way. Starting tomorrow, Texas State must win four games in two days to advance to a Super Regional.

“You try to learn from this, because we’re going to play another good team tomorrow,” Bobcats head coach Ricci Woodard said. “This team is still hungry. I expect them to come out and win two ball games tomorrow and still be playing on Sunday.”

Texas State had its chances to put itself in the winner’s bracket and give senior pitcher Chandler Hall a victory. Hall no-hit the Tigers through six innings and the Bobcats had an opportunity with two on and two outs in the seventh, but couldn’t execute.

Then in the bottom of the seventh, LSU collected three singles, the third of which knocked in the winning run.

Texas State will play Bethune-Cookman in an elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.

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May 14, 2012

College Softball: Bobcats head to College Station

For the second consecutive season, Texas State travels to the field of a Big 12 team for an NCAA Regional. At least this time, Ricci Woodard‘s team isn’t headed to Austin.

The Bobcats learned Sunday night they would participate in the College Station Regional, hosted by Texas A&M, beginning Friday afternoon. Texas State joins the Aggies, Bethune-Cookman and Louisiana State.

In the first game of the double-elimination tournament, the Bobcats take on the Tigers at 3 p.m. Texas State and LSU haven’t played since 2009.

The Bobcats advanced to the NCAA Tournament thanks to their 3-0 victory over Sam Houston State in the Southland Conference Tournament title game. Senior pitcher Chandler Hall dominated the Bearkats (10 ground outs, nine strikeouts), tossing her third career no-hitter.

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May 13, 2012

College Softball: Just dominant

One bad hop separated Texas State senior pitcher Chandler Hall from perfection in the championship game of the Southland Conference Tournament. Hall just had to settle for her third career no-hitter.

The Bobcats, behind Hall, won their second consecutive tournament title Sunday afternoon, knocking off Sam Houston State by the score of 3-0.

“This is just icing on the cake,” Hall said. “We got a conference championship, then came out here and we won the tournament. I just happened to throw a no-hitter in the last game.”

The Bearkats didn’t stand a chance with how Hall pitched. Hall threw 16 of her first 17 pitches for strikes and struck out six of the seven lead-off hitters she faced.

“We stressed that we had to get that lead out,” Hall said. “I didn’t realize that I got that many outs, so it’s good for us.”

Hall, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, also contributed at the plate for the Bobcats. Hall knocked in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.

Texas State finds out where it heads for the NCAA Tournament tonight at 9 p.m.

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