Prior to Friday's 8-7 loss to Little Rock, Pasquale Mazzoccoli had turned the corner.
The senior reliever, after all, had recorded saves in each of his previous five opportunities to steadily move to the top of the heap in the Sun Belt in that category.
With what must have seemed like a comfy three-run lead, considering the back-and-forth nature of Friday's proceedings inside Bobcat Ballpark, Texas State appeared well on its way to an all-important victory in the series opener.
The Bobcats, who had converted their past four wins in game one of a series into weekend sweeps, only needed three outs.