Bobcats' season comes to an end after a loss to Army

Jun 1 2009 - 1:43pm | Joseph O. Garcia

After a season full of records and accomplishments,  the Texas State baseball team’s 2009 season finally ended  in a 7-4 loss to Army.

Texas State was eliminated from the NCAA Championship Tournament on Saturday, May 30.  A relentless  Army team rallied late to take a 7-4 victory over the favored Bobcats.  The elimination game was held at UFCU-Disch Falk Field in the Austin Regional.

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 the 2000 season this year.

“What these guys did for the university was tremendous,” said head 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.  On two outs, Paul Goldschmidt, junior first baseman, doubled to right center and Keith Prestridge, junior DH, hit an RBI single through the right side to score Goldschmidt.

Two innings later, Goldschmidt drew a walk to lead off the third 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.

In the bottom of the fourth, an error at first base 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.  In the seventh, the Bobcats stretched the margin to 4-2, 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 were 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 and gave Army a 5-4 lead.  Army would tack on two more runs to compete the scoring.

Texas State managed just seven hits in the game with Goldschmidt and Dennis leading the pack with two apiece.

“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.”

Sophomore Brian Borski pitched 6 1/3 innings for Texas State, allowing just two runs, one of which was earned off four hits to close out the season.  Senior Lance Loftin 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.”

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