Texas State baseball, UTSA coaches clash after claims of pitcher targeting batter

Texas State baseball fell to UTSA on Tuesday night 19-4, but that was far from the end of the confrontation between the two teams.

When Texas State head coach Steven Trout and UTSA head coach Patrick Hallmark met on the diamond at the game's conclusion, an argument ensued, and coaches from both staffs could be seen yelling and shoving each other. 

Trout said after the game that he asked Hallmark if, in the sixth inning, UTSA had purposely thrown at Texas State outfielder Blake Beheler. The freshman had hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, admiring his first-career blast, which flew 427 feet. The next time Beheler was up to bat, he was walked on four pitches. 

Texas State and UTSA coaching staffs got into it after the game. Couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it got ugly. pic.twitter.com/Wos14kyuse— Caleb Yum 任皓義 (@YumCaleb) May 13, 2026

Texas State vs UTSA baseball final score:Roadrunners demolish Bobcats

After missing his first pitch on the inside corner, UTSA pitcher James Hubbard threw the second and third balls behind Beheler. Hubbard could be seen shaking his arm on the broadcast, appearing to be in discomfort. The fourth flew right behind Beheler's helmet. When Trout asked if those sequences of pitches had been on purpose, Hallmark said, "I don't know what happened."

He said Trout responded by saying it looked odd. Hallmark reiterated, "I don't know what happened, but I know he batflipped." The Roadrunners coach then said a Bobcats assistant coach put his hands on him, and that he responded in kind.

"They said he bat flipped ... it was the kid's first home run in college. We're going to stand up for our guys. Obviously, things got heated after that," Trout said.

Trout called the interaction with Beheler in the sixth "pretty unprofessional." Trout seemed to take the Roadrunners' fiery reply as confirmation that there was intention behind Hubbard's pitch sequence. Hallmark responded by denying that the conflict corroborated Trout's allegations that UTSA had targeted Beheler due to his celebration.

It's worth mentioning that against the next batter, Hubbard missed his first two pitches in a similar area to where he missed against Beheler. Hallmark also said that while he doesn't "know that we were throwing at him," he found Beheler's celebration to be disrespectful.

"We weren't coming with ill will," Trout said. "It was just more trying to get an answer to the equation. Because a lot of things can be speculated, and now we know the answer."