Looking to avoid its second loss of the season to the Texas State Bobcats, junior shortstop Jalin Flores rose to the occasion when No. 1 Texas baseball needed him the most.
On the 1-2 pitch, Flores cashed in, rocketing the ball past the outfield wall for the Longhorns’ first grand slam of the season and giving them their first lead of the night, 14-11.
“I blacked out once I hit first base,” Flores said. “The guys before me, they did their job (and) got on, so I wanted to help the team win any way I could.”
Up by one in the ninth inning, the Bobcats had the Longhorns just where they wanted them. Employing their Friday starter, junior pitcher Jesus Tovar was sent out to close the night as the Bobcats eyed their second victory over a No. 1 ranked team this season.
Tovar had a disastrous start on the hill as Texas loaded the bases late after walking a pair of Longhorns and a critical fielding error to open the final inning.
Then, with Flores’ go-ahead grand slam home run, Texas capped off its 16th win of the season, getting revenge over the Bobcats 14-11 Tuesday night at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
“So proud of our team, if we lost the game, I’d still be super proud of them,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “If we don’t win a game the rest of the year … how does that game right there not define how competitive and winning baseball team that this is.”
Despite taking the victory, the Longhorns’ pitching rotation struggled against the Bobcats, allowing season highs in total runs and home runs allowed with 11 and four, respectively.
Hitting only one home run all season, Texas State junior infielder Coy DeFury had a career night against the Longhorns’ pitchers. Going a near-perfect 4-5 at the plate, DeFury shot two solo home runs on his first two plate appearances.
Capitalizing on Texas’ less-than-stellar pitching, the Bobcats appeared to have sealed the Longhorns’ fate early as senior pitcher Andre Duplantier II allowed a grand slam to put Texas State up by five in the bottom of the sixth.
Tightening up in the final two innings, junior pitcher Cody Howard established solid mound play, keeping the Bobcats at bay. Sophomore pitcher Thomas Burns closed out the Longhorns’ victory, striking out all three of the Texas State batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth.
“Cody made enough pitches to keep us close,” Schlossnagle said. “We didn’t want to pitch Volantis, but (we) would use Burns to win the game. So from a script standpoint, it couldn’t have gone any better that way.”
Holding the Longhorns hitless through the first four innings, the Bobcats’ rotation began to slip as well. Closing the deficit, Texas put six runs on the board with clutch home runs from sophomore infielder Casey Borba and junior catcher Rylan Galvan in the seventh and eighth.
Jim Schlossnalge is set to face his former team as Texas will welcome its bitter rival, the Texas A&M Aggies, in the Lone Star Showdown this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.
