Texas State eliminates Louisiana to advance in Sun Belt tournament

Texas State used a seven-run fifth inning combined with a stellar outing on the mound from sophomore Zach Leigh to eliminate Louisiana, 11-1, in seven innings at the Sun Belt tournament on Friday inside Russo Park in Lafayette, La.

The No. 6-seeded Bobcats (30-27-1, 16-14 Sun Belt) moves onto play No. 3 Troy (40-18, 19-11) on Saturday. Texas State must beat the Trojans twice Saturday to advance to Sunday’s championship game.

“I thought one of the keys for (Friday night) was, obviously, offensively we were really good,” head coach Ty Harrington said. “(Friday), if you go back and you replay a good portion of our hits, they were in the middle of the field and so our approach was incredible. It’s something you talk about and want to push for but until you get in that box and have to face the kind of pitching like (Louisiana's) Nick Lee is that kid has been an unbelievable pitcher at this university and this conference for a long time, and for us to go in and have that kind of at-bats was critical for us tonight and crucial.”

No. 2 Louisiana (34-25, 18-12) jumped in front with a solo home run by junior catcher Kole McKinnon in the top of the third.

But Texas State evened the score in the bottom frame after a trio of singles capped off by an RBI by senior shortstop Luke Sherley brought home the first Bobcat run of the game.

Texas State added two more runs in the fourth inning. The Bobcats scored their first run of the fourth when junior third baseman Jaylen Hubbard avoided a tag at the plate off a fielder’s choice by senior catcher Jared Huber. An RBI single by senior right fielder Dylan Paul added the second run of the inning.

The Bobcats exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning with RBIs by Hubbard, senior designated hitter Mickey Scott, junior second baseman Jonathan Ortega, and Sherley.

“I think everyone was just bought in on the approach and locked in every pitch, try to take the ball back up the middle,” Sherley said about the team’s seven-run fifth. “Everyone was just competing and locked in.”

Texas State put the run-rule in place when it added another run in the sixth inning off a wild pitch to push its lead to 11-1.

The Bobcats retired the Ragin’ Cajuns in order in the seventh to end the game with an 11-1 victory.

Leigh put together a dominating effort on the mound against Louisiana. The sophomore from Victoria gave up one run on one hit and six walks in six innings pitched.

“Coming out every game, I just try to treat it the same way: Don’t get too high, don’t get too low,” Leigh said. “I just try to go in there, trust my stuff, attack the hitters and just give our team the best chance to win. That’s what I did tonight, and we came out with the win. It’s a good win.”

Junior righty Kyle Bradford entered the game in the seventh and ended the game for the Bobcats.

Texas State’s first game against Troy on Saturday takes place at 12:30 p.m. If the Bobcats take down the Trojans in the first game, the two squads play again at 7:30 p.m.