SAN MARCOS, Texas – Washington State rallied with two runs in the ninth inning and scored two more in the tenth inning to beat Texas State 9-8 in 10 innings in the final game of a season-opening four-game series in San Marcos, Texas. The win is the first for first-year Cougar Head Coach Marty Lees.
Down four runs to start the seventh inning, the Cougars scored twice in the seventh and two more in the ninth to send the game extra innings. In the tenth, Stefan Van Horn, who entered the game in the eighth, launched a solo homer high over the left field fence on the first pitch he saw, his second straight game with a home run. Jack Strunc, who also entered the game in the eighth, followed with a double down the left field line and later came around to score on Derek Chapman's sacrifice fly to left field which proved to be the game winner.
In the bottom half of the tenth, Texas State opened the inning with a double and RBI single. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt and was called safe at first to put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Bobcats bunted both runners up a base and WSU intentionally walked the next hitter to load the bases with one out. Sophomore lefthander Scotty Sunitsch came up big for the Cougars striking out the final two hitters, both looking, to seal up the win.
“I am very excited and proud for our guys who never quit tonight. They refused to give in and overcame adversity the whole game,” Lees said after the game. “Everybody contributed, from the bullpen to the guys coming in off the bench and making plays. Tonight was a true team effort.”
Washington State jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three hit-by-pitches and a throwing error. Trek Stemp was hit by the pitch to lead off the game and moved to second on a wild pitch. Chapman followed with a sacrifice bunt but the Texas State pitcher threw the ball wide of first base and down the right field line allowing Stemp to score and Chapman advance all the way to third. Cameron Frost brought home Chapman on an RBI-groundout for the early two-run advantage.
Texas State evened things up at two in the second, using a walk, an infield single, a stolen base and a two-out base hit to center to plate two runs on WSU freshman starter Ryan Ward. McGrath gave the lead right back to the Cougars with a one-out solo homer to left field, his first of the season, and a 3-2 advantage for WSU.
Ward continued to fill up the strike zone rack up the strikeouts, firing a scoreless third and striking out another hitter to start the fourth. The Hood River, Ore. native exited after allowing two singles in the fourth and Texas State used three straight walks to plate two runs and take a 4-3 lead. Sophomore reliever Colby Nealy entered from the bullpen and ended the rally with a ground ball force out at home and a popup to the second baseman Stemp down the right field line.
Texas State pushed two more runs across in the fifth with a two-out two-run double and picked up another in the sixth for a 7-3 advantage.
The Cougar offense answered with a couple runs in the seventh as Stemp got things going with a one-out base hit up the middle and Chapman followed with an opposite-field single to left. After a passed ball moved both runners up, Frost scored Stemp with an RBI-groundout and McGrath hustled down the line to beat out and infield single, allowing Chapman to score and make it a two-run game.
A Washington State rally was turned away in the eighth as Mason Cerrillo led off the inning with a bloop single to center. Strunc entered the game as a pinch-hitter with one out and lined a 2-1 pitch into left centerfield but the TSU centerfielder made a diving catch to rob Strunc of extra bases and an RBI. The Bobcats got out of the inning with a ground out.
The Cougars tied it up in the ninth with two runs as Chapman led off the inning with a walk. Frost stepped in and pulled an 0-1 pitch just inside the third base bag and down the left field line for an RBI double, scoring the speedy Chapman easily. Frost moved over to third two batters later on a groundout before coming home on a wild pitch during Harrer's at-bat to tie the game at seven.
Texas State made it interesting in the ninth, getting a runner on second with two outs but Sunitsch ended the threat with a strikeout.
Stemp, McGrath and Cerrillo each tallied two hits while Frost drove in three and Chapman scored three times. On the mound, Ward tallied six strikeouts in 3.1 innings and Sunitsch picked up his first career win after pitching three innings, allowing one earned run while striking out four including the final to batters of the night.
Washington State will stay in Texas for the Al Ogletree Classic in Edinburg. The Cougars will face the host school UTRGV Thursday at 5 p.m. (PT), Houston Baptist Friday at 1 p.m. (PT), Prairie View A&M Saturday at 1 p.m. (PT) and Houston Baptist again Sunday at 10 a.m. (PT).
