Texas State Homers Way to 9-2 Victory over Stephen F. Austin
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas ? Top-seeded Texas State used the long ball to beat Stephen F. Austin, 9-2, Wednesday in its Southland Conference Tournament opener at Whataburger Field.
Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler Sibley and Lance Loftin all went deep as the Bobcats out hit the Lumberjacks 13-6.
Stephen F. Austin struck first to take a 1-0 lead in the second thanks to left fielder Justin Long’s triple that scored right fielder Bo Coffman. Coffman doubled with one out in the inning and went to third on a ground out.
The lead was short lived. Goldschmidt, the Southland Conference Player and Hitter of the Year, sent a blast inside the left-field foul pole to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead.
Both teams tacked on single runs in the fourth before Loftin, the Texas State second baseman, homered to left center. Shortstop Jason Martinson delivered a two-out triple off the wall in right center and then right fielder Tyler Sibley followed with a homer well over the left-field fence to give the Bobcats a 7-2 lead.
Martinson’s sacrifice fly tacked on another Bobcat run in the eighth.
Loftin finished his day with a game-best three hits and Goldschmidt added two to go along with his team-high three RBI. Sibley and designated hitter Keith Prestridge, the Southland newcomer of the year, each drove in two.
Six different Lumberjacks accounted for the team’s six hits.
Kane Holbrooks, the Southland pitcher of the year, improved to 10-1 without a strikeout in his seven-inning outing. Erich Lehmann allowed 11 hits and six earned runs in the loss (7-5).
Day one of the tournament wraps up with No. 5 UT Arlington vs. No. 4 Lamar.
All Southland Tournament games will be streamed on SLC NOW on the Southland Conference web site at www.southland.org. Live stats are also available on the web site.
Texas State Head Coach Ty Harrington UTSA
“Obviously when you win this time of year, and you find a way to win, it is important. I thought SFA did a nice job of barreling up on some balls early. The key to the game was early in the game when we scored and went out and had a great defensive half of the inning. The momentum of that defensive stand for us was huge. You could feel our dugout start to get into the flow of the game. We made some great defensive plays. I thought that the momentum moved into our favor at that moment. Paul’s home run was huge for us to put us ahead. All the home runs were big for us. They helped separate the game at that moment.”
“At times this year we have been so good offensively, I thought today would be critical for us. We needed to have a good offensive tone. Lehmann has probably been the best pitcher in the second half of the conference season. We had some really nice at bats and Lance Loftin’s home run gave us substantial momentum.”
“These guys have been victorious in taking each moment of each game. Tomorrow’s game will be our next moment. They have lived one game at a time and one moment at a time trying to create a bigger moment. I knew we would play hard today, you never know as a coach what the outcome will be, but I knew we would put ourselves in position to play well.”
Texas State first baseman Paul Goldschmidt
“It was a hitter’s ballpark for me today. I just swung the bat well today and you never know because the wind could change at any moment. I didn’t know if my home run was going to stay fair, I have had one stay fair and a couple go foul this season, so I was just glad it stayed fair.”
Texas State third baseman Lance Loftin
“I was just trying to hit with two strikes and he hung a slider right down the middle. I put a good swing on it and got the good part of the bat on the ball.”
“I knew I hit it well. With the way that the wind was blowing, I knew that if I hit it in the air in left, it had a chance to go out.”
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Johnny Cardenas
“You hope that in a tournament situation, that Lehmann comes out and do what he does all year long. His curveball wasn’t as sharp and his location wasn’t as good as it has been. He would probably agree that it wasn’t one of his best starts, it just so happens that it was in the conference tournament.”
“You can’t take anything away from Texas State, they are a great offense. Hitters one through nine have the ability to hit it out of the ballpark. They do a lot of things by creating angles and moving runners. As far as an offensive team, they are one of the best, if not the best, in the conference.”
“We will try to do our best against either team we face tomorrow. We have had some success against UT Arlington. We beat them four times out of four times playing them. It is always hard to beat a team five times in one season, so we might match up better against Lamar. Whoever we play, we will put our best lineup out there and go at it.”
Stephen F. Austin center fielder Zach Gardner
“You have to give Holbrook all the credit, he pitched a great game and battled all the way through. We wanted to jump on him early and make it our ballgame to win and we couldn’t get the hits when we needed to.”
“Hopefully we have more than one game left. I am going to do everything I can and I know all the other players are going to do all they can to make sure that our next isn’t our last game. We’re just going to go out there and give it our all and what happens, happens. We’re going to make sure that we are giving 110 percent.