The Cougars won their first series of the season against the Texas State Bobcats during the weekend, behind strong performances from their big boppers, redshirt sophomore Nick Tanielu and junior Yale Rosen. 

After a win Friday, the Cougars played a doubleheader Saturday to avoid Sunday’s rain. In the first game, Tanielu knocked his first home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Cougars just enough runs to win. Tanielu also had a double in the game and came around to score on an RBI single by Rosen. 

The two went a combined 11 for 23 over the entire weekend, and drove in eight runs. Despite the wealthy amount of hitting from those two, both remained humble about it after the game. 

“Every game is a little different so you just have to take it day by day,” Tanielu said. 

WSU prevailed in Game 1 by a score of 4-3, but it got dicey in the ninth inning. Texas State trailed by three heading into their last chance to bat, and plated a run off of senior reliever Kellen Camus to cut the lead to two. With runners at the corners and only one out, freshman Ian Hamilton entered to get out of the jam. After surrendering a sacrifice fly that scored another run, Hamilton struck out pinch hitter junior Cody Lovejoy to earn the save. 

In Game 2, the Cougars’ offense faced junior Austen Williams, who came into the game 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA. Junior Tanner Chleborad opposed Williams on the mound, and entered the game with a 0-2 record. 

Williams went seven innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, striking out eight. Chleborad left after five and two thirds innings of work, in which he also gave up three runs. Senior reliever Hunter Lemke got the win for Texas State in a 5-3 victory.  

Texas State scored two runs in the top of the second, but WSU roared back in the bottom of the second with an RBI double from redshirt sophomore Ben Roberts and an RBI single by sophomore Matt Mendenhall. 

The teams stayed tied until the bottom of the fourth when Rosen doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single from junior Ian Sagdal. At that point, the Cougars led 3-2. 

The Bobcats tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI triple from junior Colby Targun, which scored junior Garrett Mattlage from third base. Mattlage had singled to lead off the inning, stole second with one out, and advanced to third on a ground ball to the right side. Sophomore Matt Bower relieved Chleborad after the second out and surrendered the triple immediately. 

A moment to take the lead presented itself for the Cougars in the bottom half of the eighth inning, but with two men on and two out, Roberts grounded out to second base before any runs could score. 

The Bobcats capitalized on the Cougars’ missed opportunity, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead. 

“I thought that we fought as a team,” Rosen said. “We all took our jobs and established our roles in the first two games. The last game we just didn’t take advantage of opportunities.”

In the bottom of the ninth, WSU sent redshirt freshman Cooper Elliott, Sagdal and freshman Luke Stratman to the plate. They went down in order to end another close game for the Cougars. 

“[Close games] kind of make us play tight a little bit but tonight in our second game, we tightened up and didn’t get the job done,” Tanielu said. “But the other two days we played loose and tonight, it was just a different team out there.”

With the series win, the Cougars move to 4-8 on the season. WSU will open Pac-12 play with a three-game series that begins Friday against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz.