Texas State head coach Steven Trout believes he’s got the best shortstop in the country. Dalton Shuffield added to his case this weekend.
The senior from San Antonio entered the Bobcats’ series against Little Rock leading the team with a .369 batting average and a .638 slugging percentage. He began the series swinging 2-4 — a double and a triple — helping lift the maroon and gold to a 3-2 win on Friday.
Texas State made history as a team on Saturday, breaking the program record for most runs scored in a game against a conference opponent by defeating the Trojans 30-4. Shuffield made history in the game as an individual, too, becoming the team’s all-time leader in triples with 12.
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— Drew King (@drewking0222) April 23, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen, #TXST's new all-time triples leader: @Dalton_Eugene8 with 12 pic.twitter.com/d4DcHSHJ7m
“You kind of like, grow up wanting to break records, do things that nobody's ever done before,” Shuffield said. “And it's a really, really good feeling, especially when you go in the dugout and all your friends just have a big smile on their face and are congratulating you, hugging you. So it was very special.”
Shuffield came to San Marcos by way of San Antonio Johnson High School, where he was a three-time All-District 26-6A First Team selection. He was sparsely used during his first few months with the Bobcats, playing in just four games before former Texas State head coach Ty Harrington started him as the designated hitter in a series opener against Georgia State on April 13, 2018.
The rookie hit 3-5 with an RBI, the Bobcats won the game, 10-9, and Shuffield became an everyday starter for the rest of the season, mostly slotting in at left field. He batted in the eight-hole in all three games of the series against the Panthers, moved up to seventh in the lineup in the next three games, then jumped to the top of the order in a 5-2 win in a series finale against South Alabama on April 22.
Shuffield remained as the leadoff hitter through the final few weeks of the 2018 season. He finished the year making 26 starts and batting .303. Harrington moved him to shortstop full-time in 2019, playing him in 55 of the team’s 56 games that year and starting him in all but three. Shuffield led the team with a .330 batting average as Texas State went on to claim its first-ever Sun Belt regular season championship.
Shuffield’s held down the fort at shortstop and hit in the top half of the lineup ever since. He’s never been voted to an All-Sun Belt team but has always been a source of consistency for the maroon and gold. He’s one of just three players on the roster who were a part of the original 2018 recruiting class, along with senior infielder Wesley Faison and outfielder John Wuthrich.
“I mean, it's Shuff. He's gonna hit pretty much everything,” said Wuthrich, who hit three home runs against Little Rock this weekend. “His hand-eye coordination is unreal. He'll swing at balls above his head and he'll barrel it up. He'll swing with his butt sticking out and he'll find a way to get a triple out of it. That's just who he is. If the pitch is anywhere near the zone, he's probably going to put a good swing on it.”
Shuffield was a flawless 5-5 in the box during the 30-4 win on Saturday. Batting second in the order, he began the day with a base hit down the right field line in the bottom of the first and was later scored on one of Wuthrich’s homers. He was back at the plate in the second inning and swung for his record-breaking triple. He added an RBI single in the third, then an RBI double in the fourth, completing three-quarters of the cycle.
The right-handed hitter physically gets himself into rhythm every time he’s up to bat. While waiting for the pitcher to wind up, Shuffield rocks his body back and forth, shifting his weight on and off his back leg and bouncing his bat on his right shoulder.
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— Drew King (@drewking0222) April 23, 2022
Dalton Shuffield (@Dalton_Eugene8) hits his second double of the day for another RBI. Cade Manning comes in to pinch-run for him, ending Shuffield's shot at the cycle
Shuffield ends the day 5-5 at the plate with two doubles, two triples and three RBIs pic.twitter.com/a1cgPKT5qQ
“It's really just like a timing mechanism,” Shuffield said. “I just do that until the pitcher gets to a certain point and then I do my leg lift and go from there.”
The routine’s been especially helpful in generating power for the 5-foot-9 slugger — through 40 games, Shuffield’s already reached career highs with 14 doubles, five triples and seven home runs this year.
The Bobcats were up 17-0 in the bottom of the fifth when it was Shuffield’s turn to hit again. Trout was beginning to pull his starters out of the game, but wanted to give his senior one last chance to complete the cycle. Shuffield lined up a deep drive to left field but the ball fell just in front of the warning track, unable to clear the fence. Still, the extra-base hit brought in another runner for the hosts and as sophomore Cade Manning came in to pinch-run for Shuffield, the shortstop finished the day with two doubles, two triples, three RBIs and four runs scored.
“In the last at-bat, I was definitely going to try to go for it,” Shuffield said. “Unfortunately, it didn't happen. I hit it pretty well though, so I'm happy about that.”
“It was fun to see that,” Wuthrich said. “I've been roommates with him for five years now, going all the way back to the dorm. So it's fun to see him have success and enjoy that.”
Little Rock made sure Shuffield didn’t have as good of a game on Sunday, intentionally walking him in his first plate appearance and striking him out in another, holding him to 1-3 at the plate for the day. Shuffield also committed a pair of errors during the contest, totaling three for the series.
But by the end of the game, Texas State (32-9, 15-3 Sun Belt) walked away with a 9-2 victory, its ninth-straight, and a sweep in its last conference series with the Trojans (16-19, 6-11).
Shuffield currently ranks second in the Sun Belt with a .392 batting average and third in the league with a 1.149. He’ll look to continue his dominant season when the Bobcats travel to play UTSA (27-13, 12-6 Conference USA) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“Dalton's one of the best players come through our program,” Trout said. “So he's gonna set, I think, a lot of records hopefully by the time he's done here.”
