Generals Walk-Off Bombers 8-7 to Open Series
July 19, 2023 – Texas State LF Damien Whitfield’s RBI single in the ninth inning powered the Victoria Generals to an 8-7 walk-off win over the Brazos Valley Bombers at Riverside Stadium. The victory opens a four-game set between the two teams as Victoria improved to 25-14.
The Generals picked up the win despite being outhit 10-4 but benefitted from five Brazos Valley errors. UT-Arlington 3B Tyce Armstrong collected two RBIs with a 2-run home run while drawing a walk. McNeese State 2B Easton Dowell went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and stole a base to tie the team-high with 17. Whitfield swiped two bags while crossing the plate twice.
Victoria cycled through five pitchers, beginning with UTSA RHP Zach Royse. The Katy native logged 3.2 innings, allowing three earned runs and one unearned run on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Huston-Tillotson RHP Seve Medrano surrendered two runs on a hit and two walks in 0.2 frames before Murray State College LHP Ryan Dugas pitched 2.2 scoreless innings and UTSA RHP Cole Brady added a scoreless frame. Kansas Wesleyan RHP KT Gearlds was credited with the win after giving up a run in the ninth.
The Bombers jumped to a hot start as the first five batters reached base safely in the opening frame. A 2-run double and an RBI single put them up 3-0 before an out was recorded. The Generals responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning behind Armstrong’s 2-run shot to left field. An RBI double in the second put Brazos Valley up 4-2, but Victoria cut the lead in half in the third as Dowell raced home on a throwing error.
Both teams traded a pair of runs in the fifth inning, with the Bombers scoring via an RBI groundout and an RBI sacrifice fly. Mary Hardin-Baylor SS Riley Bender led off the home half of the inning with a double before Dowell belted an RBI triple to bring him home. One batter later Dowell scored on an error to make it 6-5. Whitfield scored the equalizer in the sixth as he came home on another error.
Whitfield scored the Generals’ go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth as he darted home on bases-loaded wild pitch. Brazos Valley battled back with an RBI double with one out in the top of then ninth, but Gearlds stranded two runners in scoring position. Whitfield delivered the walk-off single with two outs in the ninth after the Bombers couldn’t complete a double play to end the inning.
The Texas Collegiate League’s top two teams meet each other again at Edible Field in Bryan on Thursday, July 20. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
