Bobcats Fall to Longhorns in Midweek Shootout

By Solomon Nash 

KTSW Sports Reporter

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas State Bobcats travelled North on I-35 to take on the NO.2 Texas Longhorns in this latest entry of this regional rivalry. The Cats would fall short of the upset as they fell in a 10-8 defeat at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.  

The game got off to an electric start as Rashawn Galloway homered into left field off Max Grubs to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.  

The Horns almost escaped the inning with minimal bleeding before an error in center field let Dawson Park reach second base, then shortly after Jaquae Stewart would bring him home after the shortstop let a flyout drop to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Cats.  

Ethan Farris would join the party after he singled to right center bringing Stewart home and giving Slam Marcos a 3-0 lead to end the top of the first inning.  

The Longhorns were not fazed as Aiden Robbins destroyed a ball from Ryan Markwardt into left field to bring in two runs and make the scoreline 3-2. They would carry that momentum into the next inning as Ethan Mendoza hit a double, stole third base, and scored off a wild pitch to tie the game up at 3-3 after two innings.  

Both teams would dig in their bullpen throughout the game and the score would remain deadlocked until the fourth inning when Ethan Farris delivered a solo shot to left field to give the Bobcats the lead again.  

The momentum would continue into the next inning as Manny Salas would also send a solo shot to left field to give the Cats a 5-3 lead heading into the sixth inning.  

Texas State didn’t enjoy their lead very long as Texas erupted in the bottom of the sixth scoring six runs. It started with a Casey Borba solo home run, then Mendoza hit a 2 RBI double to bring in two more runs to give the horns the lead for the first time of the night at 6-5. 

Mendoza would make it home after a single from Carson Tinney, and then Anthony Pack Jr. would join the party as he singled to center field but an error on a throw to shortstop allowed two more Longhorns to score. Texas State now trailed 9-5 heading into the seventh inning.  

Texas State wasn’t done just yet though as they got back to back to back doubles from Cotton, Galloway, and Salas to make the score 9-7. Salas would make it to third on a passed ball and would make it home after a ground out from Park to cut the Texas lead to one.  

The Longhorns would put the final nail in the coffin as Mendoza delivered a final blow solo homer to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning and Texas State would be held scoreless for the rest of the game and would fall 10-8.  

We spoke with Head Coach Steven Trout and got his thoughts on the close loss, “ The team competed, the team played hard, and we just gotta get better at execution. They are the number two team in the nation for a reason but we competed.” 

Despite the loss we saw another showcase of Slam Marcos we asked Coach Trout about the recent offensive output. “They’re just confident right now and they are seeing the ball well, there’s a lot of protection in our lineup and the guys are leaning on it.” 

Coach Trout also shared that he made sure resting arms was a priority this game as they are set to take on conference foe Georgia Southern on Thursday for game one of the upcoming weekend series at home.