Texas State misses chance at first NCAA super regional, losing to Stanford on ninth-inning comeback

Just three outs away from the first NCAA super regional appearance in program history, Texas State squandered a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, falling 4-3 to No. 2 overall seed Stanford on Monday at the Sunken Diamond in Stanford, Calif.

After the Bobcats’ Wesley Faison hit a two-run single in the top of the ninth to break a deadlock and put Texas State ahead 3-1, the Cardinal opened the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back homers from Drew Bowser and Tommy Troy to tie the game.

Four batters later, Trevor Haskins hit a low line drive into left field for the walkoff win, giving host Stanford the NCAA regional crown.

The Bobcats (47-14) finished the year with a program-record win total but came up three outs shy of their first NCAA regional victory. Making their sixth appearance in the NCAA tournament and first since 2011, the Bobcats opened with a 7-3 win against UC Santa Barbara on Friday and a 5-2 victory over Stanford (45-15) on Saturday.

Needing just one more victory to advance to the super regionals, the Bobcats fell 8-4 to the Cardinal on Sunday, setting the stage for Monday’s heartbreak. With Connecticut emerging as an unlikely winner in the regional featuring No. 15 Maryland, Texas State would have hosted a super regional in San Marcos with a win Monday.

Bobcats coach Steven Trout and many of the players appeared to have tears in their eyes as he addressed the group in the minutes following the final at-bat, and some of the Bobcats shuffled around the dugout exchanging hugs with their teammates.

In his third year as coach, Trout guided Texas State to a rebound in 2022, as last season’s 21-36 record marked the worst season since the program’s first year in 1984.

Playing for the fourth time in four days, the Bobcats turned to Tristan Stivors, the NCAA leader in saves with 18, to make his first start since his final season at New Mexico Junior College in 2019.

Stivors, a Medina Valley product, answered the call with career highs of seven innings and 101 pitches, allowing just one run on eight hits and a walk with a career-best nine strikeouts. Before Monday, Stivors’ longest outing in three years with the Bobcats was 3 2/3 innings.

Texas State struck first in the top of the second inning, as John Wuthrich doubled to left-center field and came around to score when Cameron Gibbons lined a single to center.

Stanford responded with the only run against Stivors in the bottom of the second, as Kody Huff connected with a hanging breaking pitch in the middle of the strike zone and sent it over the left-field wall for a one-out solo homer.

Both sides failed to cash in on opportunities to take the lead during the middle innings, as the Bobcats started 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position while the Cardinal opened the night 1 for 6.

Texas State right fielder Wuthrich threw a Stanford runner out at the plate in the fifth inning, and the Cardinal were kept off the board despite a leadoff double in the sixth.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, put a runner on third with one out in the seventh but left him stranded after Cardinal reliever Ryan Bruno struck out Jose Gonzalez and Faison.

With the score still tied 1-1 entering the ninth inning, Texas State ignited a rally.

Gibbons and Isaiah Ortega-Jones led off the inning with back-to-back walks, and Gibbons moved to third on Dalton Shuffield’s fly out to right. After Justin Thompson struck out swinging, Stanford elected to intentionally walk Gonzalez, loading the bases for Faison to line a two-run single to center on the first pitch of his at-bat.

Zeke Wood, Texas State’s usual No. 1 starter, made the first relief appearance of his Bobcats career just three days after throwing 105 pitches Friday. He rolled through the eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts but ran into trouble in the ninth.

On his second pitch of the frame, Bowser lasered a low fastball over the wall in left field, trimming the lead to 3-2. Just two pitches later, Tommy Troy hammered another fastball off the camera tower beyond the wall in center field, knotting the score.

The Bobcats then turned to No. 2 starter Levi Wells, who threw 107 pitches and earned a win against the Cardinal on Saturday. Eddie Park greeted him with a single the other way, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, putting the winning run in scoring position with one out. After Brock Jones was given an intentional walk and the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, Haskins hit a low line drive into right field against a full count to seal the win.

greg.luca@express-news.net

Twitter: @GregLuca