College Baseball: An upset bid falls short

Texas State held a lead against the third-ranked team in the nation, Texas, Tuesday night for seven innings. The Bobcats were unable to hold on, as the bullpen collapsed once again at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Carson Smith's masterpiece (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 K) went from a win to a no-decision while Mitchell Pitts and Garrett Carruth allowed the Longhorns to seize the lead.

Now for some thoughts...

• Carson Smith will be a weekend starter for Texas State. Bobcats head coach Ty Harrington confirmed that thought after the game, but Smith cemented his place in the rotation with his performance. Smith kept a dangerous Texas lineup at bay with his mid-90s fastball and vertigo-inducing off-speed pitches.
• Texas State needs to find some consistency within its lineup. The Bobcats had one big inning (the two-run fourth) but a bunch of other forgettable at-bats. Granted, it's still early in the season, but Texas State must pick it up with some tough weekend and mid-week games approaching.
• Jason Martinson and Laurn Randell are hurting the Bobcats' offense right now. Martinson did rip an RBI double Tuesday night, but his average is barely above the Mendoza line (.209). Randell turned in another 0-for and his averaged dropped to .200.
• Texas State just can't get it together in the late innings. The Bobcats had a two-run lead with four outs remaining in the game and couldn't close it out.
• If I were Harrington, I'd look closely at Pitts before using him again. Pitts threw 11 pitches and two of those were belted inches next to his noggin for singles. His earned-run average rose to 8.53.

Quotables

Harrington on whether or not he was worried about putting the ball in Smith's hands: "The kid wanted the moment. He got into it and pitched like he wanted to be in there."

Harrington on the team's struggles in the eighth and ninth innings: "It's just like everything else, you have to keep practicing at it. You have to be able to get into that moment, and this is one of the few places in America where you can get into that moment and attack something when it feels like the whole world is watching. We need to be able to adapt it emotionally to help us physically to be able to excel in this situation."

Smith on Texas' lineup: "I had to go attack their lineup like anybody else I'd face. You have to respect them, but at the same time, you can't put them above you. You have to go right at them."

Texas State first baseman Kyle Livingstone on the almost double play: "I knew the throw had to be perfect, so I stretched and hoped, but he got it. He was safe. That's what they did all night. They had infield hits. They weren't hitting the ball hard but they got the breaks when they needed them and it was pretty frustrating knowing we made all the plays, but the one we needed we just didn't get."