SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Texas State Bobcats showed the form that made them the No. 1 seed, regular season champion and 25th-ranked team in the nation as the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament host Bobcats staved off elimination at the hands of the Nicholls State University baseball team (28-28) by claiming an 14-2 win in their second game of the third day of the conference tournament at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos.

Texas State right hander Travis Ballew held Nicholls to two runs on six hits in 8.0 IP to earn the win, and the Bobcat lineup piled up 24 hits (the most allowed by Nicholls pitching on the year) and 14 runs to avoid elimination.

It was the first loss of the tournament for No. 8 seed Nicholls, which opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over the Bobcats on Wednesday and notched a 4-1 win over Sam Houston State on Thursday.  Friday's setback snapped a five-game winning streak by the Colonels and was the first Nicholls loss since a May 15 defeat at the hands of Texas State in San Marcos that completed a three-game regular season sweep of Nicholls at the hands of the Bobcats.

Netiher side could break through in the first two innings.  Nicholls threatened by putting the first two men aboard to start the first, but a double play ball and a lineout erased that threat.  

Texas State also had a threat early on as the Bobcats put runners at first and second with one out, but junior left handed starter Mike Wisecarver got an inning-ending double play ball to escape the jam and keep it scoreless after two.

Unfortunatley for Wisecarver and the colonels, the Bobcats broke through in the third.  After a leadoff single by Christian Gallegos and a one-out double by Jeff McVaney put runners at second and third, Wisecarver struck out Casey Kalenkosky for out number two.  Wisecarver nearly escaped the jam by starting Bobcat catcher Andrew Stumph out with an 0-2 count. 

However, Stumph stayed alive by fouling off several pitches before doubling to center field to bring home a pair of runs.  A double by Kyle Kubitza and a single by Cory Falvey produced two more runs and staked Texas State to a 4-0 lead after two and a half.  The four two out runs snapped a streak of 25.0 consecutive innings without an earned run allowed by Nicholls pitching

The Bobcats added to their lead in the fourth as three hits, including a ground-rule double by McVaney, led to another Bobcat run and chased Wisecarver with Texas state leading 5-0 with one out in the top of the fourth.  However, the Bobcats weren't done yet as freshman left handed reliever Dalton Torres was greeted by an two-run double by Kalenkosky, the first batter he faced. 

Kalenkosy was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple, giving senior center fielder Bear Comer his nation-leading 13th outfield assist of the season and the Colonels their nation-leading 26th outfield assist of the season.  But the damage was done as Texas State took a 7-0 lead into the fifth.

After Torres and senior right hander Brian Arceneaux combined to keep Texas State off the board in the fifth and sixth, the Nicholls lineup finally broke through against Texas State starter Travis Ballew in the bottom of the sixth. 

Freshman second baseman Philip Lyons got things going by drawing a leadoff walk before senior center fielder Bear Comer lined a single up the middle to put runners at first and second.  Both runners moved up a base on a groundout by senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo, Lyons crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by junior left fielder Jeremy Hill and Comer came home on a two-out RBI single by junior first baseman Blake Bergeron to cut the deficit to 7-2 after six.

However, the Bobcats struck back in the top of the seventh, stringing together five hits and a walk to push four more runs across the plate and take an 11-2 lead.  Texas State added three more in the top of the ninth for the final 14-2 margin.

The Bobcats, who have won three consecutive games including a pair of games on Friday, have stayed alive in the double elimination tournament to force a do-or-die third matchup with the Colonels.  Nicholls and Texas State will square off at 1 p.m. at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas on Saturday. 

The winner will advance to a winner-take-all tournament championship game against the winner of Saturday morning's matchup against Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.  Links to live stats, as well as live streaming video and audio webcasts for every pitch of the Southland Conference Tournament will be made available at www.geauxcolonels.com, www.ThibodauxOnline.com and www.southland.org.

Saturday night's championship game, slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch, will be broadcast live by the Southland Conference Television Network. Cox 4 in New orleans is scheduled to carry the championship game live, and southland.org and ESPN3.com are scheduled to provide a free live streaming video webcast of the title game.  Fans should check with their personal cable, sattelite or internet provider to find details on broadcast availability in their area.