Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Texas State's Garret Carruth pitched 3.2 innings, taking a liner off his right jaw and making a throw to first to end an 11th-inning Southeastern Louisiana rally as the Bobcats held off the No. 23-ranked Lions, 12-10, in a Southland Conference battle between the league's top two teams Saturday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Jeff McVaney snapped a 10-10 tie with a one-out triple off
Chris Franklin (4-3) in the 11th inning and Kyle Livingstone followed with an RBI single as Texas State (21-12, 13-4 SLC) increased its lead over Southeastern to two games as it overcame four errors by pounding out 19 hits.
The rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
Carruth (3-2) got out of an eighth-inning jam before giving up a game-tying solo home run by
Jeff Harkensee to lead off the ninth. The right-hander was aided by a pair of defensive gems in the 10th before allowing a pair of base runners in the 11th.
Harkensee, who went 4-for-6 and scored twice for Southeastern (28-9, 11-6 SLC), hit a one-out single to left field before
Philip Freeman reached on an error by Christian Gallegos. Carruth fanned
Trey Martin for the second out before
Brock Hebert hit a liner that ricocheted off the pitcher's jaw and towards the first base line. Carruth was able to get up and field the ball and flip to Livingstone at first to end the game.
Southeastern built a 5-1 lead after two innings as
Justin Boudreaux belted a pair of home runs off Bobcat starter Michael Russo. Boudreaux, who earlier belted three home runs at McNeese State on March 21, hit a two-run homer to right field in the first inning before following with a solo blast to left in the second.
Texas State scored a run in the second and added two in the third before erupting for five runs in the fifth with two outs after Jason Martinson struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch by
Tyler Watkins. McVaney chased Watkins with a single to center field before Livingstone greeted reliever
Josh Janway with a two-run into the right-field corner.
Kyle Kubitza followed with an RBI double that scored Livingstone and Tyler Sibley added an RBI single that gave Texas State an 8-5 lead.
Southeastern cut the lead to 8-7 in the fifth on Hebert's two-run single and tied the game at 9-9 in the sixth when
Cass Hargis hit an RBI triple to right and scored on Boudreaux's chopper into left.
The Bobcats snapped the tie in the seventh as Livingstone reached on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Stumph.
Livingstone went 4-for-6 with three RBI to lead Texas State while McVaney was 3-for-5 with a home run, single and triple. Kubitza added three hits for the Bobcats including his 10th double of the season.
Hargis and Boudreaux had three hits each for Southeastern, which smacked three home runs in the game and turned three double plays. Boudreaux drove in five runs for the Lions, who fell behind Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State in the league standings.
Texas State......... 012 051 100 02 - 12 19 4 (21-12, 13-4 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 230 022 001 00 - 10 14 2 (28-9, 11-6 SLC)
Russo, Pittman (6), Carruth (8) and Kopycinski, Stumph (7). Watkins, Janway (5), Lopez (5), Franklin (9) and Gough-Fortenberry, Lucas (7), Cryer (9). W – Carruth (3-2). L – Franklin (4-4). E - Martinson 2 (8), Gallegos 2 (2), J. Boudreaux 2 (8). DP - TXST 1, SLU 3. LOB - TXST 7, SLU 8. 2B – Livingstone (9), Kubitza (10). 3B – McVaney (1), Hargis (5). HR – McVaney (5), J. Boudreaux 2 (10), Harkensee (4). HBP - Randell, Ernest. SH – Ernest (2), Gough-Fortenberry (5). SF – Stumph (2). SB – Atwood (8), Martinson (6). CS – Martin (3). T - 3:34. A – 995.
