It’s been a frustrating start to the season for Texas State Baseball.
The Bobcats have yet to win a series all year, going 4-12 in weekend matchups this season. But it’s not from a lack of talent. The maroon and gold still show flashes of being the same team it was in 2020 when it posted a 14-4 overall record.
The most recent of those flashes came Wednesday, when Texas State took down Oklahoma inside Bobcat Ballpark, 5-2.
“The good news is, we're (5-1) in midweek games,” head coach Steven Trout said. “And you know, we're playing Big 12, SEC teams on the midweeks and we keep winning games like that. And so to me, it's not about who's in the other dugout. We gotta show up if it's a midweek game, if it's a weekend game, with the same energy, the same effort, no matter what. It doesn't matter who we're playing, we gotta go play good baseball and bring the effort.”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Zeke Wood (2-1) set the defensive tone for the hosts in the early innings, keeping the Sooners off the bags through the first two frames. Wood gave up five hits and three walks in 5.0 innings of work but allowed just one runner to score and struck out four batters.
Oklahoma (12-8) didn’t score again until the top of the ninth, when the maroon and gold were up by four. Wood, who was making his first midweek start, was credited with the win.
“I thought it started out with Zeke Wood coming out and having, probably, his best performance,” Trout said. “He had three pitches going for him against a really super-talented offense. I mean, they're leading the Big 12 in hitting and they had, I don't know how many runs they scored this weekend against Houston. And so, I was just proud of how he came out and mixed speeds and that's the Zeke Wood we were expecting. And so, really good fastball, good breaking ball, good changeup and that was fun. And then the guys that came out the bullpen did the same thing and held them at bay.”
The Bobcats were shut out through the first three frames but finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Senior catcher Tucker Redden drew a walk to lead off the inning. Graduate designated hitter Bryce Bonner sent the first pitch he saw to the corner of the right field for a triple, scoring Redden. Senior third baseman Cole Coffey grounded out in the next at-bat, sending Bonner home.
Sophomore right fielder Jose Gonzalez extended the lead with a solo home run to left field in the fifth. Junior shortstop Justin Thompson added a pair of insurance runs with a two-RBI homer to left center in the seventh.
A single and a triple in the top of the ninth allowed the Sooners to get a run back. The visitors’ next two batters were walked, loading the bases with two outs. But freshman RHP Otto Wofford forced a popout to end the game, giving Texas State the 5-2 win.
“You know, a lot of guys can be like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have a Big 12 team, we just got swept (by Little Rock),’ and they can easily just roll over,” Gonzalez said. “But that's something special about this team, we don't just roll over. We came out here ready to fight today.”
Texas State (9-13, 0-3 Sun Belt) is still dealing with injuries dealt to some of its biggest bats. Junior outfielder John Wuthrich remains out of the lineup. Over the weekend, junior infielder Dalton Shuffield reaggravated a leg injury he suffered earlier in the season. Senior outfielder Will Hollis slid into the hosts’ bullpen wall chasing after a foul ball on Wednesday in the top of the seventh and was taken out of the game after being looked at by the team’s trainer.
But Trout hopes that the win over Oklahoma gives his team some confidence and momentum as it hosts its first conference home series against Louisiana-Monroe (9-8, 2-1), beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
“The old adage is you're playing the game, you're not playing the opponent. You're playing the game of baseball,” Trout said. “And so for us, we gotta get back to doing that. (Thursday is) another important day for us to come out and get better and find a way to come out and beat a really good Monroe team. But to me, it's all about the Bobcats. If we play good baseball, we're gonna win baseball games.”
