Austin Munguia had a three-hit, four RBI night, including a two-run home run to give Texas State baseball (19-19, 8-9 Sun Belt) an 8-6 victory over South Alabama (16-21, 6-11 Sun Belt) at Stanky Field Friday night.

Getting the start for the Bobcats was Jesus Tovar and per usual, he put on a stellar performance. Tovar collected the win in 5 1/3 innings where he gave up one run on six hits with five strikeouts.

Texas State plated a quick three runs in the first off a Coy DeFury single that scored Ryne Farber, followed by Munguia’s two-run blast.

It wasn’t until the sixth and seventh innings the Bobcats plated some more insurance when DeFury and Munguia had back-to-back singles to add to the lead the Bobcats held all game.

A Chase Mora RBI double was the cherry on top, putting Texas State at what seemed to be a comfortable 8-4 lead. After a perfect seventh inning, Matthew Tippie gave up three runs on three straight hits, moving his final line to 3 runs allowed in 2/13 innings with four strikeouts.

Despite facing self-inflicted adversity, Carson Laws got the save after giving up two runs in the ninth, mostly off of four ninth-inning walks. Laws now has seven saves on the season.

After exploding for 15 runs the night before, the Jaguars stranded 11 runners and failed to get the walk-off hit in the ninth with the bases loaded. Ethan Melton produced a two-run home run in the eighth inning to highlight the South Alabama scorecard.

Offensively, the Jaguars struck out looking five times and had twelve total strikeouts on the night.

Mitchell Heer, the Jaguars starting pitcher, suffered the loss in six innings pitched where he gave up four runs on seven hits with only one strikeout.
The two Sun Belt foes will duke it out at 1 p.m. on Saturday to decide the series winner. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.