University Star

It appeared that Texas State was on the verge of pulling out another weekday win over a ranked opponent — through four and a half innings. However, early third inning mistakes cost the Bobcats offensively and Texas’ bats eventually got to Taylor Black, freshman pitcher.

Tyler Sibley, senior second basemen, fails to steal second base April 17 against the Texas Longhorns at the UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Longhorns pulled away 2-0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 6,917 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. The loss marks the sixth in a row for the Bobcats.

“We still haven’t hit our offensive moment,” Coach Ty Harrington said. “I don’t know when it’s coming but I still hold out hope that it is coming. We have guys who have succeeded before offensively that haven’t played at the level they are capable of, and they know that.”

Texas State is now 9-36 against the Longhorns in program history and has dropped the last 13 matchups, the last five by two runs or less. The team’s last win over Texas was a 2-1 triumph on April 27, 2005.

Black, despite his first loss as starting pitcher this season, tied a personal career-high with seven strikeouts over 102 pitches.

It wasn’t until the fifth inning when the hits started to fly for the Longhorns. Catcher Jacob Felts got the first hit for Texas, which gained momentum into the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, when the Longhorns were able to manage three doubles.

“I thought his effort was great and his composure was great,” Harrington said. “It’s probably the most I’ve ever seen strikeout. His breaker was good tonight. I haven’t seen that before. It was a big moment to go the road in a great environment like this and play well.”

In the third inning, Texas State got hits from Garrett Mattlage and Tyler Sibley, but they were quickly wiped away after Felts threw out Mattlage on a pick-off to first base.

On the next series, Sibley went to steal second and guessed incorrectly on the pitch. He was thrown out at second, and in two minutes the Bobcats went from having two men on base to none at all. The Bobcats had four hits through the first three innings, then went hitless the rest of the way.

The 19-game hitting streak of right fielder Jeff McVaney also ended, as he went 0-for-4 at the plate.

Since the Bobcats held a 5-1 lead on Rice at the end of the third on April 10, the team has been outscored 31-3.

Texas State returns home after an eight-game road trip, in which the team went 2-6. Central Arkansas comes to San Marcos for a three-game home stand this weekend.

“(The road trip’s) been rough,” Harrington said. “The kids are trying and everyone wants to know why things aren’t going well. Their effort is there. The confidence isn’t right now, but the effort is there. Tomorrow’s a big day for us to try and get some guys better and continue to get healthy.”