SAN MARCOS, Texas (4/1/23) – Jacob Conover pitched two shutout innings to help the Arkansas State baseball team stave off a late rally by Texas State, holding on for a 5-4 victory Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Red Wolves (9-15, 1-5 SBC) surged ahead for a 5-0 lead, but the Bobcats (18-9, 4-4) rallied for four runs in the seventh. Conover entered to start the eighth and allowed just one base runner en route to the first save of his A-State career.
Brandon Hager and Jared Toler both went 2-for-4 on the day, driving in a run apiece. Wil French reached base twice via walk and scored both times. The Red Wolves tallied six hits in the ballgame and did not commit an error.
The Bobcats tallied four hits – two by Chase Mora and one apiece by Ben McClain and Ryder Hernandez, who drove in three runs with a homer in the seventh.
A-State struck first in the top of the first when Kody Darcy plated French with an RBI single, then added four more in the fifth.
Jake Henry Williams scored when French reached on an error attempting to sacrifice. Blake Burris then reached on a fielder’s choice to plate Dylan DeButy, followed by RBI singles by Hager and Toler.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Kyler Carmack (2-1) worked six shutout innings before exiting with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh. He finished with five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits for his second consecutive quality start.
Jake Algee entered with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh in relief of Carmack, allowing one run on one hit, as he recorded the final two outs of the frame.
The Bobcats broke up the shutout in the seventh when a sacrifice fly by Kameron Weil scored Daylan Pena, and then a two-out three-run home run by Hernandez pulled the hosts to within one, but Algee forced a groundout to limit the damage.
Conover worked around a two-out runner at second in the eighth, and then retired the side in the ninth to clinch the victory.
NEXT UP
A-State looks to take the series against the Bobcats Sunday, with first pitch slated for noon on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be heard on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9 and 970 AM in Jonesboro, as well as online at 953theticket.com.
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Red Wolves Hold Off Bobcats For Saturday Victory. Article may or may not reflect the views of KLEK 102.5 FM or The Voice of Arkansas Minority Advocacy Council
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