Texas State notebook: Bobcats push Stanford to the brink, but end season in NCAA regional
SAN MARCOS — Texas State pushed the country's No. 2 baseball team to the brink before Stanford scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, winning the final game of its own regional on Monday in walk-off fashion, 4-3.
The Bobcats, who finished the season 47-14, were on the cusp of not only advancing to the program's first ever super regional, but also hosting it. Maryland was upset in the College Park Regional by No. 3 seed Connecticut, which would have made the second-seeded Bobcats hosts as the higher seed. Instead, Stanford will host UConn this weekend with the winner advancing to Omaha.
Texas State opened the regional with a 7-3 win over No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara last Friday, scoring five of its seven runs on two home runs — a three-run shot by catcher Peyton Lewis in the fourth inning and center fielder Ben McClain's two -run homer in the sixth.
Then on Saturday, a pair of solo homers from left fielder Jose Gonzalez in the first and fourth innings, and Wesley Faison's two-run shot in the fourth propelled the Bobcats to a 5-2 win over Stanford. The Cardinal went on to beat Santa Barbara 8-4 in Sunday's elimination game to earn the rematch with the Bobcats later that night.
Stanford designated hitter Carter Graham, who left the first game against Texas State with an injury, returned for Sunday's rematch and hit two home runs and had 5 RBIs in an 8-4 Cardinal win, forcing Monday's final game.
On Monday, Faison's two-run single in the top of the ninth broke a 1-1 tie, scoring Isaiah Ortega-Jones and Cameron Gibbons. But the Bobcats' 3-1 lead was short-lived, as Stanford opened the bottom of the ninth with two solo homers from Drew Bowser and Tommy Troy to tie it up again with no outs; pinch-hitter Trevor Haskins then ended Texas State's season with an RBI single to left field.
Bobcats pitcher Triston Stivors, an All-American and the national leader with 18 saves, was named to the all-region team; he pitched seven innings, allowed one run and struck out nine in his first and only start this season. Gonzalez, who hit three homers in Palo Alto, also was named to the all-region team.
Track and field: Alyssa Wilson continues to set records. Her hammer throw of 245 feet, 4 inches last Thursday at the NCAA outdoor championships set the college mark and was the second best overall by an American this year. She finished second, though, behind Cal's Camryn Rogers, whose throw of 254-10 was the furthest throw in college history.
Wilson is the second Bobcat in school history, male or female, to finish as a national runner-up. Texas State shot putter Abigail Ruston won silver in 2007.
Wilson finished 23rd in the shot put. Her final outdoor championships event will be on Saturday in the discus.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State's deep baseball runs falls short in walkoff fashion
