SAN MARCOS, Texas -- A five-run fifth inning was not enough for No. 6 Houston, which lost 7-6 at Texas State on Wednesday evening.
The Cougars fell into a 6-0 hole after four innings and weren't able to match Texas State's scoring efforts as Houston (6-2) took its first road loss of the season.
Houston tallied 10 hits, five of which came in the five-run fifth and two in the ninth, which saw the Cougars make a rally, plating one, but finished one run shy of forcing a latter half of the ninth.
The Cougars had three players tally two RBI each, led by Kyle Survance with a two-run triple and double for two of Houston's three extra base hits on the night. Junior Chris Iriart drove in two on three hits and scored a run, while freshman Connor Wong plated two on an infield single in the fifth.
Junior Jacob Cambell notched a multi-hit game, doubled and scored a run, while freshman Zac Taylor and junior Josh Vidales singled for the Cougars.
Houston starter David Longville (1-1) suffered the loss after tossing 3.1 innings. He allowed three earned runs on six hits. He was relieved by junior Austin Moore, junior Kyle Dowdy, sophomore Marshall Kasowski and junior Patrick Weigel -- who all combined to hold Texas State to one run two hits in the final 4.2 innings out of the bullpen.
A scoreless game through two innings was broke open when Texas State plated two runs on an RBI-single and a throwing error by the Cougars.
The Bobcats extended their lead in the fourth following three hits and a Houston miscue to make it 6-0 after four innings.
Campbell opened the top of the fifth with a leadoff double down the right-field line. With two outs, Taylor drew his second walk of the game, giving way to Survance -- who tripled to center, scoring both Campbell and Taylor to make it 6-2 in favor of Texas State.
Iriart then followed up to score Survance on a clutch two-out, RBI-single up the middle to cut the Bobcats' lead in half. The inning would continue with a bases-loading bunt single by Vidales and become more interesting when Wong drove in two more Cougar runs on a high infield chopper, plating Rice from third and Iriart from second to bring the score within one at 6-5.
Texas State would add another run in the latter half of the sixth following a leadoff walk, stolen base, wild pitch and RBI-safety squeeze to make it 7-5 Bobcats.
Houston rallied in the ninth with one run following an Iriart RBI-single, plating Survance, who reached on a one-out double, but the Cougars fell one run shy.
Bobcat reliever Blake Whitter earned the win in relief, after tossing 4.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts.
