Texas State baseball (34-20, 16-12 Sun Belt Conference) moves one step closer to securing a top six position in the Sun Belt Conference with a 6-5 game one victory over Louisiana-Monroe (16-36, 5-22 Sun Belt Conference) Thursday night at Bobcat Ballpark. 
Texas State Head Coach Steven Trout gave junior right-handed pitcher Levi Wells the start on the mound, for what might have been the final time in Bobcat Ballpark as he could opt for the MLB draft this summer. 
“At this point in time you don’t try to dissect it too much you just try to find a way to get a win and we needed it really, really bad,” Trout said postgame. “Really proud of the guys. Proud of Levi Wells and how he threw. That’s a game we needed to have and he went eight innings for us.” 
Over the eight innings Wells allowed five runs, only four earned. He added five strikeouts to the team leading 85 he had going into Thursday. The righty was efficient on the bump, surrendering zero walks, and keeping his pitch count below triple digits. 
The impressive outing from Wells, allowed the Texas State batters to settle in. 
Freshman infielder Chase Mora, hit a three-run-homer in the bottom of third inning giving Texas State its first lead. The homerun was his seventeenth of the season which leads the Bobcat offense.  
Louisiana-Monroe junior left-hander pitcher Cam Barlow came into Thursday’s game 3-6 on the season. He did not pitch to a decision on the night, lasting only four innings, surrendering three runs, and notching just one strikeout. 
With two games left in the series, Wells’ performance means a well-rested Bobcat bullpen for the remainder of the series.  
A solo shot in the top of the fourth from Louisiana-Monroe junior third-baseman Zack Floyd evened the score at 3-3. 
The Warhawk offense hung tight with Texas State throughout the game, only leaving three runners on base, and finding ways to capitalize on defensive mistakes.
In the sixth inning the Warhawks scored two runs to tie the game once more at 5-5 after the leadoff hitter reached base via an error, and later came around to score. 
But Wells and the Bobcat defense were able to limit the damage and get out of the inning without surrendering the lead. 
Texas State sophomore first baseman Daylan Pena fired the final salvo of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when he hit a solo homerun, his tenth of the season, off junior right-hand pitcher Carson Orton to give the Bobcats the hard fought and much needed win.   
The two teams will meet again Saturday evening for the second of the three game series. 
The first pitch between Texas State and Louisiana-Monroe is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, May 19 at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.