Texas State Back in Southland Title Game after 10-7 Win over Nicholls
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Top-seeded Texas State beat No. 8 seed Nicholls, 10-7, to complete its comeback through the loser's bracket of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament to secure its fourth title game appearance in the last five years.
The Bobcats opened the tournament with a loss to the Colonels on Wednesday, then beat Southeastern Louisiana and Sam Houston State before defeating Nicholls Friday night to force today's game with the title game berth on the line.
Texas State will play Stephen F. Austin in the championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. on the Southland Conference Television Network. First pitch will be at 6:05 p.m.
As the designated visiting team Saturday afternoon against Nicholls, the Bobcats turned a lead-off Tyler Sibley triple into a run when he scored on a ground out by Casey Kalenkosky. Kalenkosky added a two-run home run in the third inning. His 21st homer of the season scored Christian Gallegos to put Texas State on top 3-0.
Clint Vest and Tyler Sibley drove in two more runs in the fourth before Nicholls scored three runs to pull within a 5-3 score. Austin Flores singled up the middle to score Blake Bergeron before Beau Faulk's two-run homer to right field.
Texas State got all three runs back in the top of the fifth. Andrew Stumph singled to right to drive in the first run and Brett Atwood singled up the middle to plate to more and give his team a 8-3 lead.
Kubitza led off the seventh with a home run and Gallegos added an infield RBI single to extend the lead again. A solo homer by Bergeron pulled Nicholls within a 10-5 margin.
Nicholls refused to go down quietly, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the ninth thanks to an RBI single by Scott Moseley and a sacrifice fly by Beau Faulk.
Kubitza led Texas State in going 4-of-5 and scored three runs. Kelnkosky finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Sibley had two hits and Atwood drove in two runs. The Bobcats out-hit the Colonels 14-12 and each team stranded 10 base runners in a game that had five errors.
Kasey Culverson was 3-for-3 to lead the Colonels. Flores also had three hits in a 3-for-4 day that saw him score twice. Faulk drove in three runs in going 2-for-4.
Hunter Lemke took the win for Texas State to improve to 2-0. He pitched the fifth and sixth innings and allowed only one run on three hits. Jeff McVaney earned his school-record ninth save, getting the final two outs after he entered the game with the tying run on deck. Nicholls starter Brad Dealatte took the loss, which dropped him to 3-5 after he allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in four innings.
The Lumberjacks, Texas State's opponent in the title game, opened the tournament with wins over Lamar and UTSA before falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday. SFA beat the Islanders earlier Saturday to earn its first trip to the tournament championship game. Texas State won two of three games against the Lumberjacks during the regular season.
Nicholls ends its season 28-29 after qualifying for the conference tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.
Game 14 Quotes
Texas State Coach Ty Harrington
"I thought Lee gave us a chance to win. We knew we had to have a guy who could put up some zeroes and give us a chance to score. Webster was sitting in the background for them, lurking and we knew they'd put him in when it was close. I was proud of our offense for getting us a lead early, to get him in the game earlier. Obviously as the game went on, we made some unbelievable defensive plays. They've been really good. We made some errors, but our defense has been good. I was proud of the effort they gave. Then for Pitts to come back on two days rest, he's as gutty as they get. A lot of people wondered what we were doing, putting a guy in with two day's rest. Our plan was if we got to this point, that he'd be able to come back and pitch. J-Mac (Jeff McVaney) came in and did what he had to do, which was throw strikes."
On Lee Colon
"The majority of Lee's struggles have been out of the pen. When he's started games, he's been really good. We wanted to get him back in a starting role, which we did today, and I was proud. There were some moments where he really attacked with his fastball."
On offense
"At this point in the year you're trying to win. To overanalyze anything at this point would be to create some ink in the papers and make me feel better about what I think I know. For us to go out there and score 10 runs; was good. It's hot out here. The field temperature has to be well above 100 degrees, and I'm proud of our kids for hanging in there. They're tired. It's a lot of baseball games in a couple days and they're ready to go."
Nicholls head coach Seth Thibodaux
On the team not giving up
"Several times we could have rolled over; we're at someone else's park with a really great crowd and our guys kept fighting. That's who our guys are and that's what Nicholls' baseball is becoming."
On the end to their tournament run
"We have a lot of respect from everyone and that's what we wanted. We didn't get what we came here to do which was try to win this tournament but we're going to keep fighting and we will be back."
On Texas State's performance
"I have to tip my hat, whenever they smell blood they go get it. They're an intense bunch and they know how to win. Ty Harrington is an outstanding baseball coach. He gets everything out of his players and they're always going to be competing."