Cougars defeat Texas State 7-6 in 10 innings

SAN MARCOS, Texas — A sacrifice fly by Austin Deming in the top of the 10th inning that scored Andrew Pintar from third — combined with clutch pitching from Mitch McIntyre — gave BYU a 7-6 win over Texas State in the final game of the four-game series Tuesday.

“Tonight was a total team win,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “We picked each other up, got a few key hits, played solid defense and Mitch did an incredible job finishing the game when we needed him most.”

McIntyre, the Cougars' starting centerfielder, took the mound with the score tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh with runners on the corners and one out. The sophomore lefty struck out pinch hitter Cade Manning on five pitches for the second out, and got centerfielder Isaiah Ortega-Jones to pop up to second base to end the inning.

Over the next three innings McIntyre retired the side in order, striking out two, while not allowing a single Bobcat to reach base. Over the course of three and two-third innings he retired 11 straight batters to get the win.

“I’m real proud of our guys this series for playing hard every inning,” said Littlewood. “Mitch was outstanding tonight and I thought Luke Sterner gave us two very solid and important innings on the mound in his college debut.”

The win gives BYU a 2-2 split in the four-game series at Texas State. The Cougars won games two (9-4) and four (7-6), while the Bobcats took games one (5-4) and three (11-6).

Scoring Summary

• After trading runs in the first inning, BYU jumped out in front of Texas State in the top of the second with two runs on two hits. Hayden Leatham singled to the left side to start off the inning. Freddy Achecar then doubled down the left field line to score Leatham and eventually advanced to third on the throw to the plate. Achecar scored to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead on a sacrifice fly to left field by Brock Watkins.
• The Cougars and Bobcats both scored runs in the fifth inning. BYU picked up one in the top half on a sac fly to left center by Achecar that scored Josh Cowden, who had led off the inning with a walk. In the bottom half of the inning, the Bobcats picked up three runs on two hits and a couple of BYU walks to tie the game at 4-4.
• A pair of runs by both teams in the sixth knotted the game at 6-6. For the Cougars, Pintar scored for the second time of the game on a base-on-balls and McIntyre reached home on a fielder’s choice to second by Bryan Call. In the bottom half of the frame, TSU tied the score with two runs off four hits.

Player Highlights

• Andrew Pintar: 2-4, 2 BB, 3 runs
• Freddy Achecar: 3-4, 2 RBI, 1 run
• Mitch McIntyre: 3.2 IP, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
• Luke Sterner: 2.0 IP, 1 K, 0.00 ERA

Up next for the Cougars is a four-game series versus Texas in Austin, Feb. 24-27. All four games will be broadcast live on ESPN’s Longhorn Network and the BYU Radio Network on BYU Radio FM 107.7, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app. Game one is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. CST.