| May 18, 2006
Contact: Carlos Valdez III. UTSA’s rally falls short as Texas State wins game one, 5-3 Box Score
SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team dropped a 5-3 decision to I-35 rival Texas State in Southland Conference action Thursday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
Texas State moves into a second-place tie with UTSA in SLC standings at 19-9. The Roadrunners dropped to 35-18 overall, while the Bobcats even up their record to 27-27.
Junior pitcher Josh Ruffin suffered his third loss of the season and only his second defeat in SLC play. Ruffin is now 8-3 on the year and is 6-2 in league play. Junior Michael McKennon (pictured) led the UTSA offense with three hits, two runs scored and one run batted in, while senior Lee Todesco recorded two hits and one RBI.
Scott Moore picked up his ninth win on the year and improved to 9-4 overall. The Bobcats were led by senior Luke Cannon, who had a 3-for-5 day with two triples, a double and one run scored. Four different Texas State players collected one RBI apiece.
UTSA scored first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Marshal Davis led off with a walk, then moved to second off a sacrifice bunt by senior J.R. Voyles. McKennnon’s RBI-double to right field brought home Davis from second. A wild pitch by Texas State moved McKennon to third base. An RBI-single by Todesco plated the second run of the game to give UTSA a 2-0 lead.
The Bobcats got one run back in the top of the second inning. Senior Cody Merell and junior Aaron Garza reached on back-to-back singles. Merell and Garza advanced to second and third on a UTSA throwing error. Senior David Bednarek's RBI-groundout to short scored Merrell from third to cut the lead to 2-1.
Texas State took its first lead of the game with a three-run fourth. Junior David Wood began the inning with a single, then Garza drew a walk to put men on first and second. Junior Pat Crumpton drove in Wood from second with a double to left field. Freshman Thomas Field’s single to center field brought home the go-ahead run for the Bobcats, to give them a 3-2 lead. Leadoff hitter senior Cassidy Dresch's sacrifice fly plated the fourth run of the game for Texas State.
In the fifth inning, the Bobcats added a run to make the score 5-2 when Cannon smacked a double over the right fielder's head, then came around to score off a Roadrunner miscue. UTSA trimmed the lead to 5-3 with a run of its own in the bottom of the fifth. McKennon ripped a one-out single up the middle. Freshman James Keithley hammered a Moore offering to left field to score McKennon easily.
Texas State brought in its fourth pitcher of the day in junior closer Justin Fiske in the bottom of the ninth inning. Fiske got Voyles to pop out to the catcher for the first out of the frame. McKennon reached on his second double on the day, while Todesco drew his third walk of the day, to put runners on first and second with one out,. Fiske slammed the door on the UTSA rally by striking out Keithley and forcing Rockett to fly out.
With the Bobcats taking game one, the series shifts to San Marcos for games two and three. First pitch in game two is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday followed by a 3 p.m. start on Saturday.
|
