Texas State Beats Sam Houston State 13-2 to Earn Rematch vs. Nicholls
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State showed why it is the top seed in this week's Southland Conference Baseball Tournament at its own Bobcat Ballpark, jumping all over No. 5 seed Sam Houston State, 13-2 in seven innings, to set up a rematch with Nicholls for the chance to get back to the tournament title game for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Texas State (37-21) and Nicholls will play Friday at 7 p.m. and if the Bobcats win, it would force another game with the Colonels Saturday at 2 p.m. for a berth in the tournament championship game. If Nicholls wins either game, it earns its first title game appearance since 1998.
Against Sam Houston Friday afternoon, Tyler Sibley led off the game with a home run over the fence in left center field and the Bobcats, playing as the designated visiting team, scored four runs in each the top of the second and third innings and got two more in the fourth.
The Bobcats had little trouble with Sam Houston State starter Brent Powers, who left the game after walking the lead-off batter in the third inning. He allowed six runs on three hits and a pair of walks and was not helped by a defense that committed two errors in the second inning. He took the loss to drop to 5-4 on the year.
Sibley led the Bobcats in going 3-for-5 and drove in four runs, including his sixth home run of the year in the first inning. He drove in another in the second and two more in the third. Casey Kalenkosky, Cory Falvy, Clint Vest, Bret Atwood and Christian Gallegos each had two hits. Kalensosky hit his 20th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh to initiate the conference's 10-run rule. He is the sixth player in the NCAA to hit 20 home runs this season.
Texas State starter Colton Turner cruised to the complete-game victory thanks to his offense. He limited the Bobcats to two runs on five hits, walked one and struck out two to improve to 9-2 with the win.
Five different Bearkats accounted for those five hits. Kevin Miller drove in a run in the second and Luke Plucheck drove in a run in the third.
Sam Houston State ends its season with a 35-23 record. The game was the final for retiring head coach Mark Johnson, who led the Bearkats to Southland Conference tournament titles and NCAA regional appearances in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and a conference record 13 consecutive tournament wins.
Game 10 Quotes
Texas State Head Coach Ty Harrington
"You can go back to the beginning of the game and obviously we were able to take advantage of mistakes the made. I thought offensively we had great at bats. We grinded in every at bat. I thought we did an amazing job at grinding at bats out. Colton was unbelievable today. They were a very aggressive-hitting team and he was able to get a lot of first pitch outs. The second part of the day was the defensive side of it. Christian Gallegos played a great game at shortstop again today. There's a lot of positive things defensively that if we can handle the baseball like that and pitch like that we have a chance to do some fun things.
"Colton was able to get the ball and force the ball in the strike zone early on each hitter."
Texas State Starting Pitcher Colton Turner
"My mind set today was go out there and go as many innings as I could because in order to win this tournament you have to have a lot of pitching and I knew that by me going seven or eight innings would help our bullpen out a lot later in the game. So I was just happy that I could get the job done today."
On his run support
"It gives me a lot of confidence. I'm considered the young guy so they come out and give me run support I try to help them out on the mound."
Texas State Second Baseman Tyler Sibley
"This is something that we pride ourselves on all season long is bracing adversity. It started today and we have to come out tonight and get another one."
On giving Colton a lot of run support- "Usually he's on Sundays and Sundays are grind-it-out days. We know that it's on the offense to go out there and get Colton's comfort level situated."
Sam Houston State Coach Mark Johnson
"I wish we could have played better. I feel for our team right now. Texas State played very well. Everything they hit fell in, they pitched well, they played good defense. So it's time for us to hang it up and put in our equipment. It's been fun to be at the tournament."
On Retirement
"I don't have a lot of reflection right now. It was nice that Ty (Harrington) sent the guys over. That was a nice touch and the (announcement after the game on) the PA. But we still have to get back home and meet with the guys and turn in equipment and meet individually with them. So there are still some things ahead of me. I haven't really reflected out on walking out here for the last time. I'll still be going to ballparks, so it won't be the last ball game I see."
About the Southland Conference
I think our conference is really, really good this year and I hope the NCAA will recognize that. We had a lot of parity. I think the top five teams had 34 or 35 wins each. The outside, the Tuesday or Wednesday games early in the season, I don't think a lot of people were excited to play the Southland Conference. As we got into our conference season, the Tuesday games, we started racking up some good victories against some really good opponents in different conferences that will help with our RPI. I would really be disappointed if we didn't get two teams in. Now, we're beating each other up right now. But, you know, that's what the Southeastern Conference and Pac 10 and all of them claim they do.
We're in a spot right now that we have so many good teams and good coaches and good facilities that we're attracting a lot of good players. I think there are some outstanding players out here. We had a lot of scouts come in and they think the same way I do. I hope we can get two teams into regional play.