Bobcats lose at NCAA championship

Jun 17 2009 - 3:00pm | Joseph O. Garcia

After a season full of records and accomplishments, the Texas State baseball team’s 2009 ended in a loss to Army.

The Bobcats were eliminated May 30 from the NCAA Championship tournament. Army rallied late to take a 7-4 victory over Texas State in the Austin regional game at UFCU-Disch Falk Field.

The Bobcats conclude the season with a 41-17 record, which marks the most wins in a season in school history.

It was Texas State’s fourth appearance in the championship tournament and its first since 2000.

“What these guys did for the university was tremendous,” said coach Ty Harrington. “We set a record for wins and we were a two seed for a regional. I am proud and pleased.”

Texas State took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Paul Goldschmidt, junior first baseman, doubled to right center on two outs and Keith Prestridge, junior designated hitter, hit an RBI single through the right side to score Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt drew a walk to lead off the third inning and Spenser Dennis, senior outfielder, gave Texas State a 2-0 lead with a base hit to right field.

Army connected in the bottom of the third to plate their first runner on a solo home run.

An error at first base in the bottom of the fourth allowed Army to tie the game at 2.

Texas State took the lead again in the top of the sixth when Jason Martinson, sophomore infielder, launched a triple off the right center wall and scored on an overthrown pick-off attempt. The Bobcats stretched the margin to 4-2 in the seventh after a pair of hits to score what would be the team’s final run.

Army came back with five runs off a three hits and capitalized on a pair of errors to steal the edge. A pair of base hits was separated by a throwing error from the field to send across the first two runs and tie the game. A singled through the right side and back-to-back walks followed, giving Army a 5-4 lead. Army would tack on two more runs to complete the scoring.

Texas State managed just seven hits in the game. Goldschmidt and Dennis led the team with two each.

“Our offense has been key for us this season,” Harrington said. “We normally separate ourselves with our offense, but we did not do that today.”

Goldschmidt is satisfied with the season.

“It was a fun year,” said Goldschmidt, a projected third-round MLB draft pick. “We did some good things. We set a lot of records.”
Sophomore Brian Borski pitched six and one-third innings for Texas State, allowing just two runs, one of which was earned off four hits to close out the season. Lance Loftin, senior pitcher, took the loss and moved to 3-1 in his final season.

“We will take things from here, the lessons we learned and move on,” Harrington said.  “The only thing we can do is learn and grow from our experiences. You have to get in this situation to experience it and you have to experience it to execute.”

Permalink