On a weekend that featured multiple home runs by both squads, Texas State baseball (24-9, 9-3 Sun Belt) dropped two of three games to the Georgia Southern Eagles (20-11, 8-4 Sun Belt) for its first series loss in 2022.
Before the series against Georgia Southern, the Bobcats had won seven straight weekend series. All three games between the Eagles and the Bobcats came down to the wire.
Friday night, the Bobcats had the lead over Georgia Southern for most of the night. With one out in the ninth, fifth-year senior Eagles’ outfielder Christian Avant hit a home run on the first pitch he saw from Bobcat senior pitcher Tristan Stivors, tying the game. In extra innings, the Bobcat and the Eagles traded runs in the 10th, deadlocked at four. In the 11th and final inning, Georgia Southern pulled ahead 7-4. The Bobcats could not recover the runs and dropped game one of the series.
“What a crazy baseball game,” Head Coach Steven Trout said. “Started off a low scoring game … they scored one there in the ninth to extend it, then a lot of craziness happen there in extra innings.”
In the loss, Friday, Bobcat pitchers struck out 18 Eagles. Starter, junior pitcher Zeke Wood, matched his career-high 12 strikeouts. 
Saturday, with the wind blowing northeast out of Bobcat Ballpark, the Bobcats hit six home runs in their loss against the Georgia Southern Eagles. The Bobcats and the Eagles combined for 24 runs in the 13-11 Eagle win.
“Just a typical Saturday in San Marcos when the wind is blowing out,” Trout said. “So, a lot of home runs hit … just a lot of competitive offenses that keep finding ways to score runs.”
The back-to-back losses to the Eagles resulted in the first series loss for the Bobcats this season, something that Trout knows is a part of baseball. 
“Sometimes you’re gonna have bad weekends and have bad weeks,” Trout said. “We’re going through one right now, but we’ve got to find a way to wake up.”
Sunday, the Bobcats were playing not to get swept and the Eagles didn’t make it easy. 
The Bobcats, down a run in the ninth, had to rally. The maroon and gold did just that – finalizing with a walk-off double by junior outfielder Jose Gonzalez to win 10-9 in game three. 
Earlier in the week, Gonzalez had his car stolen. In probably the craziest week of his life, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief with the walk-off hit.
“The guy had his car stolen this week,” Trout said. “To end his week with a big-time hit like that, I told him, ‘I’m gonna have somebody steal it again to get a walk-off hit.’”
After their first series loss, the Bobcats will look to get back on track against the Baylor Bears (16-15, 2-7 Big 12) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Bobcat Ballpark.