College Baseball: A familiar feeling for Pitts on the mound

Midway through Texas State's 9-3 win Wednesday night against Baylor, Bobcats third baseman Kyle Kubitza and starting pitcher Mitchell Pitts spoke as they headed into the dugout.

"We were joking, I faced him in high school, that it was just like pitching back in high school," Kubitza said. "If he does what he can do, he'll get a lot of people out and that's what he did."

Pitts got plenty of outs against the Bears after a shaky start. He allowed one run and loaded the bases in the first inning, but didn't allow a runner to advance further than second in his next six innings.

The sophomore hurler tossed seven innings of one-hit ball while only walking one and striking out seven. Pitts earned his third win of the season in the first start of his collegiate career.

"It wasn't so different for me (not coming out of the bullpen), because I started in high school," Pitts said. "I just took that mindset that I had in high school and came out and threw."

And how did Pitts fare when he battled Kubitza in high school?

"He struck me out like nine of 12 times," Kubitza said. "After we both found out we were going to Texas State, I told him, 'I'm glad I'm going to same place as you, because there's no way I'd be able to hit you in college.'"