Chase Mora tied the all-time program record for home runs among a barrage of home runs as the Texas State Bobcats (20-9, 7-3 SBC) defeated the struggling Georgia Southern Eagles (10-20, 3-7 SBC) Thursday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark.
An outburst of home runs from juniors Manny Salas, Jaquae Stewart, and Mora, along with some gutsy pitching performances all around, helped secure the win for the Bobcats in the series opener.
“It was a good win,” Texas State manager Steven Trout said. “You always want to try to win 20 games before you lose 10, so that was a big game today.”
Salas got the party started early for Texas State, hitting a two-run home run over the center field wall and giving the Bobcats an early lead in the first inning. Georgia Southern got a run back right away after Brady Christman smacked a home run to right field in the top of the second; graduate pitcher Kyle Froehlich was able to get out of the inning without any more damage.
Froehlich got himself into a bit of trouble in the third, giving up back-to-back singles to open the inning. He got himself out of that pickle, but in the fourth inning, he faced a similar situation, putting runners on the corners with no outs. He was unable to come out of that jam unscathed, giving up a run on a sacrifice fly. Just like in the third inning, he was able to limit the damage.
“When you’re {on] a short day [of] rest, you just got to fight,” Trout said. “Everyone knows [Froehlich] throws a lot of strikes … You just got to go execute when the runners in scoring position; I thought he did a great job of that.”
The Bobcats put two men on base with no outs to begin their half of the fourth. Luck was on Texas State’s side, as a wild pitch was enough to score Stewart from third with two outs, giving Texas State a slim 3-2 lead.
Froehlich was unable to register an out in the fifth inning, putting two runners on base with no outs yet again, prompting Trout to deploy sophomore reliever Cade Smith, who walked the first runner he faced, loading up the bases for Christman, who homered earlier.
Smith was able to strike him out before he gave up the tying run on an RBI groundout from Bennett Edwards. Yet again, the Bobcats managed to limit the Eagles to just a run and prevent a catastrophe.
Senior Rashawn Galloway jolted life into Texas State’s offense with a triple in the bottom of the fifth; the center fielder and left fielder collided violently on the play, stopping the game for a few minutes, but both players were able to stay on the field.
Salas, who homered earlier on the day, did it again with yet another two-run blast, this one being a no-doubter. Georgia Southern was forced to dip into their relievers and brought in Ethan Garrett, who was instantly greeted with a single from sophomore shortstop Dawson Park, but didn’t allow any more Bobcats to come around and score.
Smith went back out for the sixth inning and kept Georgia Southern off the board. However, he gave up a sacrifice fly to deep center field, bringing the Eagles within one run once more.
Redshirt freshman Alex Yearwood came in to pitch the top of the eighth and retired the first two hitters out without much trouble. He gave up a pop-up double to shallow left-center after some miscommunication from the Bobcat defenders.
Shortly after, James McCoy tied the game with a double down the left field line. Freshman pitcher Wade Cooper came in and prevented the inning from spiraling further, with Stewart making a diving catch to keep the game tied.
In the bottom half of the inning, Stewart delivered a booming 450-foot home run over center field to give the lead right back to the ‘Cats. Mora officially put the game on ice with a two-run shot, and in the process tied the all-time Texas State home run record with 36.
“I love [Mora],” Stewart said. “I was here over the summer, did some rehab, [and he was] the first guy around. I think it’s very well deserved, and hopefully he gets to break [the home run record] here at home.”
Cooper went back out for the top of the ninth and closed the door on the Eagles, giving Texas State their seventh consecutive Sun Belt Conference victory and 14th home victory.
The Bobcats will be back in action tomorrow with a doubleheader against Georgia Southern. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m., and fans can either attend in person or watch live through ESPN+.
