Texas State's Scheible walks off UTA on Senior Day
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team earned a 7-6 walkoff victory in 10 innings over UTA in the final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (27-29, 13-17 SBC) registered their first series triumph since toppling ULM two games to one April 13-15, while the Mavericks (30-24, 20-10 SBC) are set to enter postseason play having lost five of their last six games.
Texas State has earned the No. 8 seed in the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championship, and the team will face No. 9 seed Little Rock in a single-elimination contest at 5:30 p.m. May 23 in Statesboro, Georgia. The victor will move into the eight-team, double-elimination portion of the tournament.
Saturday's triumph began on a sour note as the Mavericks took a 3-0 lead after three innings of play. The visitors tacked on an additional two insurance tallies in the top of the fifth, but the Bobcats erupted for five two-out runs in the home half of the frame to equalize at 5-5.
After two scoreless stanzas, UTA plated a go-ahead run in the eighth only to be foiled with a game-tying marker with two outs in the bottom of the ninth from Texas State.
The Mavericks were unable to score in the top of the 10th despite placing two runners on base, and the game-winning sequence began when junior Mickey Scott led off with a single. He was sacrificed over to second and was brought home on an RBI double from pinch hitter Derek Scheible. The junior lashed a 2-0 count to straightaway center that narrowly cleared the head of a diving center fielder near the warning track.
The walkoff was his second of the season (Purdue) and seventh of the year for the Bobcats. TXST also has six victories this season when trailing after eight innings.
Texas State's 3-7 hitters all had two hits, coming from Scott, juniors Travon Benton, Theodore Hoffman and Dylan Paul, and sophomore Jaylen Hubbard. Hubbard scored twice, Paul registered three RBIs and Hoffman drove in a pair of teammates. He also scored the game-tying run on Paul's single in the bottom of the ninth.
Sophomore Brayden Theriot (5-1) got the last out of the game to collect the victory, and he is now tied with junior Blake Walden and true freshman Nicholas Fraze for the team lead in that category. Sophomore Wes Engle started on the mound and allowed three runs on four hits in 2.2 innings. Senior Brandon Courville threw 1.1 clean frames, while sophomore Connor Reich and true freshman Shane Daughety also saw time on the mound. Fellow true freshman Zachary Leigh threw 1.2 innings of hitless ball.
UTA closer Daniel James (0-3), who entered the game in the top five in the nation in saves this season (13), recorded just his second blown save of the campaign to take the loss. He was tagged for the final two runs on five hits in 1.1 innings. Starter Matt Michalski did not give up a run across the first three innings, and the Mavericks burned through four additional relief pitchers.
Noah Vaughan and R.J. Williams both went 3-for-5, with Vaughan recording three RBIs. Both Will Olson and Aaron Funk went 2-for-3, and Olson scored three times and Funk drove in two runs. Omar Salinas was 8-for-10 with three home runs and seven runs scored in the first two games of the series, but he went 0-for-5 in Saturday's losing effort.
Both teams had 12 hits, and neither club committed an error.
The maroon and gold were celebrating their Senior Day, and they honored Quinn Atwood, Brandon Courville and Joe Powell prior to first pitch. Managers Alec Sanchez and Will Grant were also recognized as part of the ceremony.