University Star

The Texas State baseball team came into Wednesday’s game against Texas Tech coming off of a record night at the plate.

The Bobcats started where they left off against Prairie View A&M by scoring five runs in the first inning en route to a 10-4 victory.

Keith Prestridge, junior outfielder, hit an RBI single through the right side of the field to score Bret Atwood, sophomore outfielder. Ben Theriot, junior catcher followed up with a sacrifice fly to score Paul Goldschmidt, senior first baseman.

The big hit of the inning came from Kyle Kubitza, freshman infielder. With two men on and two outs, he crushed his first home run of the season over the right field wall to give the Bobcats a 5-0 lead heading into the second.

“It felt pretty good off the bat,” Kubitza said. “We definitely have a power lineup. Everyone on our team can really hit.”

“Kubitza’s home run in the wind may be one of the farthest balls I’ve seen hit,” said Coach Ty Harrington.

Matt Steiner, freshman pitcher, made his third appearance for the Bobcats. He started the game by throwing three and two-thirds scoreless innings while striking out two batters.

Steiner gave up his first run and hit to the Red Raiders in the fourth inning. Taylor Ashby, junior outfielder, hit an RBI single to centerfield to make the score 5-1.

The Bobcats added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Goldschmidt batted in Jason Martinson, sophomore infielder. Prestridge batted in Atwood on a towering sacrifice fly to right centerfield to give the Bobcats a 7-1 advantage.

Steiner was relieved by Tyler Brundridge, senior pitcher, in the top of the sixth inning. The freshman gave up one run on four hits while striking out three Red Raiders.

“Matt Steiner set the tone,” Harrington said. “You got a freshman making his second start in a big game for us. It was a big moment for him. He needed to grow. I thought he was fantastic.”

Each team added another run to their totals. Kubitza scored for the Bobcats on an error in the fifth inning. The Red Raiders scored on a RBI single by Justin Berry, Texas Tech infielder, in the sixth to make it a 8-2 game.

Texas State added runs in the sixth and seventh innings to bring its total to 10. Texas Tech put its final two runs on the board in the eighth inning. Ashby crossed the plate again for one of the two runs.

Michael Russo, junior pitcher, came on in the ninth inning to end any Red Raider comeback. He earned his first victory of the season.

Harrington said he was very pleased with his team’s performance.

“Obviously it was a big win for us against a Big 12 team. I was very proud of our efforts again defensively and I think we’re continuing to grow,” Harrington said.

Texas State will host Stephen F. Austin for a three-game series March 27 to March 29.