San Marcos, Texas – Texas State exploded for five runs in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth to pick up a Sunday afternoon run-rule win over ULM, 13-1, at Bobcat Park.
"It was a terrible performance by us from really the first pitch," ULM head coach Michael Federico said.
Texas State (15-9 overall, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) used three second inning walks from ULM (7-16, 0-6) starting pitcher Jacob Barton to push the first run across. Barton loaded the bases with one out when Travon Benton hit a groundball to the right side to push home Jaylen Hubbard for the 1-0 lead.
Barton also issued two walks in the third inning, but worked around them for a scoreless inning. He worked into the fifth inning, giving up four runs on three hits with five walks and a four strikeouts in taking the loss. Overall, the Warhawks walked nine batters and hit two more.
"Jacob Barton's command was not very good today," Federico said. "We're still in the game a little bit. You just can't overcome nine, 10 walks, whatever we had today. Their guy (Texas State starting pitcher Connor Reich) walks none, punches us out eight times."
ULM tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. Andrew Beesley led off with a single to right field. After a strikeout, Austin Schmitt picked up his first career hit with a single to right. A throw to try to prevent Beesley from advancing to third was offline but backed up by Reich near the Bobcat dugout. Reich threw to second to try and throw out Schmitt, who was looking to advance on the throw to third. Schmitt worked his way into a run down, and Beesley broke for home, tying the game up at 1.
However, the game quickly got away in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bobcats picked up three straight singles to open the inning, the last two bunt singles, and coupled with a throwing error, scored a run to regain the lead at 2-1. Jaylen Hubbard connected for a 2-RBI single, while Ryan Newman and Benton picked up RBI singles later in the inning to push the lead to 6-1. After the Bobcats added a run in the sixth inning, they invoked the run-rule in the seventh inning with Newman's grand slam capping off a six-run frame for the 13-1 win.
Reich picked up the complete game win, giving up just four hits while matching a career-high with eight strikeouts.
"We've got to check ourselves in the mirror a little bit," Federico said. "This is a very difficult league. We're in the game for a little bit and we just let it slip away with the five spot and of course giving up a six spot. To give up a five-spot and a six-spot is unacceptable. We give up five outs in one inning. Don't execute a bunt. Have a strikeout, ball gets away from our catcher. You just can't do that in college baseball."
Federico said he's continuing to evaluate all options when it comes to the pitching rotation.
"We want to put our guys in situations to be successful," Federico said. "I do believe in our guys. I believe we've got some guys that can do certain things. Is it the situations we're putting them in? Is it the moments? Is it the talent level? I don't know what it is. We are definitely searching for a lot of different things. Bottom line is, I would rather get beat by somebody just outhitting us and doing things that way and they earn it. We're basically starting innings with runners at first and second and nobody out. We just can't do that. We're not good enough in the rebuild of what we're trying to do to be able to do that."
Federico said the lineup continues to be a work in progress as well.
"We're not getting any productivity out of the back of the lineup," Federico said. "Too many fly ball outs. I was so proud of (Masen) Prososki to lay a bunt down today. This is a slow turf. They execute two bunts in one inning and it gives them five runs. I keep telling our guys, look, we've got to bunt, we've got to do some things a little bit different. I don't know if they're stubborn or they just don't trust us well enough yet, but we've got to be able to pressure their defense in some different ways. I would rather be a bang-bang play at first than another lazy fly ball out in the outfield."
The Warhawks have lost seven straight games.
"Baseball is a game where the team who makes the least amount of mistakes usually wins," Federico said. "You don't have to play better than people sometimes, you've got to limit the mistakes. Strikeouts and flyouts are very simple plays to be able to make. You can't defend a strikeout. It's real simple. The catcher just catches it. Fly ball outs are pretty easy. We've got some speed. We're searching for everything. I think our team is searching. I think our coaches are searching. We want to put our guys in situations to be successful. We're trying to do that."
ULM visits Louisiana Tech for a mid-week game at 6 p.m. Tuesday to close the five-game road swing. Links to live video, audio and stats are at ULMWarhawks.com. The Warhawks then open a four-game home stand on Wednesday against Jackson State at 6 p.m. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com.
