Flat Screens, Cycles and Throw Up

It was a pretty big week for the Bobcat baseball program. The final touches were completed on our newly-renovated locker room that took us from a below average set-up to probably one of the best locker rooms in the Southland Conference. We replaced our 40-inch box TV and outdated speaker system with three 63-inch flat screen HD televisions. We also got two X-Boxes and a surround sound system installed. New carpet was put in place, along with six theatre-style leather recliners.

The lockers are now all wood and look pretty sweet. It was kind of a pain not being able to have a locker room for a couple of months, but after seeing the final results it was worth it.

This is just another step in the right direction for the Texas State baseball program. As players, we can take pride in our locker room and use it as a great recruiting tool. We know this didn’t happen overnight and we appreciate all the time, hard work and money that went into the project. Derek Grice oversaw most of the renovation and his staff made the locker room possible. We also had some very generous boosters that provided the finances, so to everyone that played a role, we really appreciate it and the results are amazing. Thank you again.

This past week we headed up to Lubbock, Texas, to play Texas Tech. It was definitely one of the worst bus rides I have experienced in my four years of playing college baseball. The ride up was long, boring and everyone wanted to get off the bus. When we arrived, there was snow on the ground and the weather looked pretty miserable. There was some doubt about the possibility of playing, but Texas Tech has a turf field, so the weather didn’t affect much.

On the actual game day, the weather warmed up to about 70 degrees. Oh, how we love Texas weather. I guess the temperature change came over Bret Atwood too, because on game day, he decided to be the most annoying person in the world, but only towards me. Bret knows I love my naps and don’t really like to be messed with when I wake up. I had just taken a pretty solid power nap and he decided to hit me, talk my ear off and do anything he could think of to annoy me. It didn’t stop on the bus, either. On the field, he decided he would throw water at me while I was stretching and I had to threaten him. I told him he would go 0 for 4, but we would still win.

Well, Bret didn’t go 0 for 4. He actually had one of the biggest games of his career, going 5 for 6 and showed his power. We rarely see that side of Bret, since he’s such a great bunter. We ended up beating Tech and got our first win over a Big 12 opponent this season. After the game was over we were joking about how annoying Bret was. I said that I didn’t care that he went 5 for 6, I couldn’t take his annoying ways. Coach Harrington overheard me and said ‘He didn’t mind what annoying thing Bret did, as long he continued to get five hits every game.’ So, I guess as long as Bret is hot, I’ll let his annoying self hang out with me.

After the game was over, we had a pretty quick turnaround for showers and food, because we had an eight-hour bus ride ahead of us. Each seat had to share a Domino’s Pizza, and this is where things get interesting. We had been driving for about an hour, when one of the funniest, most disgusting things happened. There was a lot of commotion, because some of the guys on the back of the bus were playing cards and blocking the bathroom and Colton Turner NEEDED the bathroom. It turns out, he had gotten sick from the pizza and needed to throw up, but since we were blocking the door, Garret Carruth took a mouthful of throw up all down his back and arms. The mess was everywhere: on Carruth’s arm, pants, shirt, on the cooler, the floor and even Clint Vest’s phone. After we got over the shock of what just happened, we yelled for Henry (the best bus driver ever) to pull over, immediately. I do not handle the sight and or smell of throw up very well, so luckily I got off the bus as soon as it stopped. I made the mistake of looking down and almost lost it. Shawn, our athletic trainer, got everything clean up and Carruth changed his clothes and left the smelly ones on the side of the road. I actually think we left the cooler on the side of the road, too. Garret handled the situation like a champ, because he didn’t freak out like most of us would have. We finally made it back to San Marcos, but made sure there was open path to the bathroom for the remainder of the seven hours. This is definitely the top story and funniest moment of the season, so far.

We hit the road again to play Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas, for the weekend. Sam Houston is a big rivalry series for us since they beat us in the Southland Conference Tournament last year. We swung the bats really well and scored a lot of runs to take the series. Saturday’s game was cancelled due to bad weather, so we played a doubleheader on Sunday. This brought back memories of junior college ball, when doubleheaders were an every-week occurrence. We knew it was going to be a long day, because not only did we have to play two nine-inning games, the weather was terrible. There was a 30-mph wind constantly blowing during both games. Despite the weather, the team did a really good job performing. The day was highlighted by Jason Martinson’s cycle and game-winning home run in the first game of the doubleheader. With one out in the ninth, Jason blasted an opposite field two-run homer that gave us the eventual win. As he crossed the plate to celebrate, he said “I got my cycle.” It was a pretty special thing what he did and he was recognized by the Southland Conference as Hitter of the Week. Nice job J-Mart.

Well the season is a grind right now. We are playing a lot of games and trying to fit in some studying where we can. The doubleheader was pretty tough on our bodies but we will be ready for another conference series at home this weekend against Lamar. We really have a great group of guys and they are a lot of fun to play with. We still haven’t played a complete game where our pitching and hitting were on, but we are still beating people up. Once we can consistently play a complete game, this will be a fun team to watch.

Well, I need to start studying. Until next time…

Always Delaying,

Kyle Livingstone

P.S. I still lead the team in stolen bases

(photos courtesy of Texas State Media Relations Office)