Livingstone Leads Texas State Past Nicholls, 9-5
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Kyle Livingstone hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning to break a 4-all tie and Texas State added three more runs for a 9-5 victory over Nicholls Friday in an elimination game at the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament at Whataburger Field.
Livingstone was 4-for-5 with three RBI and scored three runs to lead the Bobcats, who pounded out 18 hits to set up a meeting with UT Arlington Friday at 7 p.m. in another elimination game for Texas State. If UTA wins it would advance to the title game, but if the Bobcats can win it would set up another game with the Mavericks with the winner moving on to play for the championship against either Lamar or McNeese State Saturday at 6 p.m.
Each team scored twice in the first and Texas State (36-21) was able to take a 4-2 lead before the Colonels tied the game in the bottom of the third. After Livingstone's lead-off home run to left, the Bobcats added another run when designated hitter Jeff McVaney scored on a Clint Vest single to center.
An RBI single to right by Brady Bourque pulled Nicholls (27-29) within one run, 6-5, but Texas State added a single run in the seventh and two more in the eighth for the four-run victory.
McVaney and Tyler Sibley each finished 3-for-4 and had one RBI. Sibley scored two runs and McVaney scored once. For Nicholls, which had nine hits, Bear Comer was 3-for-5 and scored twice. Bourque, Keith Kulbeth and Beau Faulk had two hits apiece. Comer and Faulk each drove in two runs.
The game got off to a sloppy start with each team committing three errors in the first two innings. Nicholls added another error later in the game to finish with four.
Mitchell Pitts got the win for Texas State to improve to 6-1. He allowed all five runs on nine hits and struck out one without a walk. Ryan Cooper took the season-ending loss for Nicholls after allowing six runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Texas State coach Ty Harrington
"We came out early offensively but couldn't separate ourselves from them but credit there team for that being battling us. I thought we pitched well down the stretch and offensively Kyle Livingston produced for us breaking the tie in the game with another big hit.
"This team is excited about the chance to move from this moment to the next which is tonight against UT Arlington."
Texas State first baseman Kyle Livingstone
"We're at the point of the season where we aren't a lock to be a regional team, so every game could be our last, and as a senior, I came out and tried to help this team as much as I could.
"Early on I had a chance which got over the third baseman's head which drove in some runs for us. Today, I did a good job of seeing the ball and being able to put it into play which helped get us the victory today."
Nicholls coach Chip Durham
"We came out and battled today. I'm very proud of our kids, very proud of our program, our players our coaches. We've come a long way. We made it to the tournament and won the first game and were in the winner's bracket for a little bit. Our hats are off to Texas State and Ty Harrington, they have a solid team and we wish them the best of luck.
"We had a good season for our program and this was a great season for our program to build off of for next year. We've got some good things to build off of and I'm very proud of our guys."