No. 15 Bobcats use three-run 8th inning to down Cajuns, 6-4

SAN MARCOS, Texas – John Wuthrich capped off a three-run, eighth inning with a go-ahead two-run homer and No. 15 Texas State claimed a 6-4 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team in the second game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series on Saturday at Bobcat Ballpark.

Peyton Lewis added a solo home run in the second inning while Justin Thompson and Dalton Shuffield had two hits each as Texas State (40-11, 22-4 SBC) won its sixth straight game.

Louisiana (30-19, 17-9 SBC) took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Connor Kimple led off with a single and eventually scored on Carson Roccaforte’s RBI grounder to second.

A pair of RBI doubles by Shuffield and Justin Thompson in the first gave Texas State a 2-1 lead before Lewis homered to right off Louisiana starter Jacob Schultz.

Kyle DeBarge’s two-out, double down the left-field line in the fourth inning scored Tyler Robertson to cut the deficit to 3-2 before Kimple and Roccaforte belted solo home runs in the fifth chase Texas State starter Levi Wells and give Louisiana a 4-3 lead.

The Bobcats rallied in the eighth after Shuffield led off with a single off Schultz, who pitched 7.0 innings with five strikeouts. Dylan Theut got Jose Gonzalez to ground out and allowing Shuffield to advance to second before moving to third on Jake Hammond’s errant pickoff throw.

Thompson then tied the game at 4-4 when his sacrifice fly to center scored Shuffield before a walk to Wesley Faison and Wuthrich’s homer put Texas State ahead for good.

Cameron Bush (2-2) pitched 2.0 innings and fanned two to earn the win for Texas State with Tristan Stivors pitching a scoreless ninth, getting Roccaforte to ground into a game-ending double play, to earn his 14th save.

Robertson went 3-for-3 to lead Louisiana at the plate with Kimple going 2-for-4 and DeBarge 2-for-3. Heath Hood, Julian Brock and Conor Higgs each recorded hits for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who finished with 11 hits and turned a season-high four double plays.

Hammond (2-1) suffered the loss for Louisiana after allowing a pair of runs with a walk in 0.2 innings.

The final game of the three-game series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans in the Lafayette area able to listen to the game on KPEL-FM (96.5). Louisiana will send right-hander Jeff Wilson (4-2, 3.86 ERA) to the mound with Texas State countering with right-hander Tony Robie (2-0, 4.99 ERA).

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