It probably isn’t considered a hitters’ park by its dimensions or the thin Texas air, but Texas State’s Bobcat Field proved to be just that Wednesday after the Cougars routed the Bobcats in a 15-9 victory.
In a game that produced 34 hits and 24 runs between both teams, the Cougars wasted no time getting on the board. In the top of the first, freshman infielder Blake Kelso led the Cougars by lacing a double off the centerfield wall. He scored on a single to center by senior outfielder Jake Stewart as Houston jumped to an early lead.
In the second inning, the Cougar offense scored three runs by stringing three hits together. The rally was capped off by a two-RBI double down the leftfield line by sophomore outfielder Zak Presley, extending the early lead to four.
Texas State’s offense would retaliate in the bottom of the inning, matching the Cougars in the bottom of the inning by scoring three runs off of sophomore starter John Touchton.†
Touchton maintained the lead through the first two innings, but the Bobcats caught up with him in the third after he gave up another three-run inning to relinquish the Cougar’s lead.† After surrendering their first out, the Bobcats would record five consecutive base hits on their way to their one-run lead.
After the Bobcats stretched their lead to two in the fourth, the Cougar pitchers held their opposition in check. Junior pitcher Chris Wright shut down the Bobcat offense over three innings of relief, giving up only one run and striking out six.
The Cougars managed to tie the game over the next two innings with a solo home run to leftfield by senior infielder Bryan Pounds in the fifth and a triple scorched to left by Presley, who would later score on a passed ball in the sixth.†
The Bobcats were quick to answer in the seventh, claiming their last lead of the game with an RBI single off Houston freshman pitcher Barrett Bruce.
Trailing by one, Houston opened up a big eighth inning where everyone had a chance to rip the ball. Hit after hit, the Cougars formed an offensive mambo line that included 12 batters, eight hits and eight runs.† The biggest hit came off the bat of Stewart, who sent a three-run bomb over the outfield wall that would jettison the Cougars to a lead they would never give up.
The six-run deficit proved to be too steep a climb for Texas State. Freshman pitcher Chase Dempsay shut the door in the ninth, knocking out the last three batters in order.
