Texas State notebook: Men's, women's basketball teams hunt favorable Sun Belt seedings
SAN MARCOS — Texas State's women’s basketball team sits third in the Sun Belt standings after winning five of its last six games, including the past three.
The Bobcats (18-7. 10-4) went 2-0 last week with wins at Southern Mississippi 69-52 Thursday, then at Marshall 64-60 Saturday. With four games left until the Sun Belt Tournament, the Bobcats have won three more games than they did all of last season, when they were 15-14.
All 14 Sun Belt teams make the conference tournament, with the top 10 getting a bye into the second round and the top four automatically advancing to the third. With the win Saturday, Texas State is guaranteed a top-four finish.
More: New Texas State football coach G.J. Kinne has added several of his old IWU coaches, players
The Bobcats return home this week to play James Madison on Thursday and South Alabama on Saturday. The Sun Belt Tournament will start Feb. 28 in Pensacola, Fla.
Men’s basketball: Texas State took a 66-62 win over Arkansas State on Thursday night before losing a heartbreaker Saturday on a buzzer-beating layup 70-68 to Old Dominion.
The Bobcats (12-15, 5-9) stopped a three-game skid by beating the Red Wolves for the second time this season, but Saturday's loss put them back in the precarious 11th spot in the standings. All 14 teams are automatically in the conference tournament, but the top 10 seeds advance to the second round. The 11th through 14th seeds will play in the first round two days earlier.
Texas State could use the extra rest with nine players missing at least one game, tied for the second-most injuries in the nation behind IUPUI with 14. The Bobcats have four more games until the conference tournament, starting with a visit to Appalachian State on Thursday.
Softball: Hosting three other teams in the Texas State Tournament to open the season, the Bobcats opened with two double-header splits on Friday and Saturday. They lost their first game 3-2 to Wichita State on Friday before winning the second game 8-0 over Kent State. The Bobcats beat Kent State 5-1 again Saturday morning before losing to Villanova 4-2 in the afternoon.
The Bobcats (2-2) will wrap up the Texas State Tournament in a rematch with Wichita State on Sunday at noon.
Baseball: Starting pitcher Levi Wells became the first Bobcat ever named to the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in high school or college. Wells is one of 55 players on the list after finishing last season with an 8-3 record, a 3.07 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 18 games. The righty from La Porte has been named to four preseason All-America teams as well as the All-Sun Belt preseason team. Texas State will open its season next weekend at home with a three-game series against Northwestern.
Track and field: Dominick Yancy broke his own school record in the indoor 400-meter run Friday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. The senior from Euless finished fourth in 46.41 seconds to beat his own 46.48 mark. Yancy was the Sun Belt's track athlete of the week last week after breaking another school record, posting a 20.58 in the 200-meter dash.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State notebook: Bobcats basketball teams eye Sun Belt tourneys
