History was made at Bobcat Ballpark on Friday evening as Texas State’s (21-10, SBC 8-4) senior infielder Chase Mora broke the school’s all-time career home runs record in their 9-8 loss to the Georgia Southern Eagles (11-21, SBC 4-8).
Just the night before, Mora tied Bobcat legend Paul Goldschmidt’s home run record. The very next day, he hit career home-run number 37, establishing a new program record.
“It was a surreal moment,” Mora said. “I’ve had a lot of big swings, but that one will obviously be one of my favorites.”
Texas State tallied three home runs during their second game of the day, scoring eight runs on ten hits. Junior Justin Vossos recorded three hits, and sophomore Ethan Farris recorded two.
Georgia Southern took the early lead in the second inning, where they scored two runs and added four more in the third.
The Bobcats were quiet until the fourth inning when sophomore infielder Dawson Park hit a solo home run to get Texas State’s offense going. Farris doubled and freshman catcher Clayton Namken walked. Both scored on Mora’s historic swing, making the score 6-4.
Texas State added one more in the fifth inning when freshman outfielder Jackson Cotton doubled to start the inning. He eventually scored on a groundout by junior infielder Manny Salas, shrinking the Eagles’ lead to one.
Georgia Southern scored one on a sac fly in the sixth inning and looked to add more, but was shut down by a Bobcat double play.
Vossos started the seventh inning off with a leadoff triple. He scored on a groundout by Cotton, once again making it a one-run ball game.
The Bobcats took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the eighth. Junior Jaquae Stewart was hit by a pitch to start the inning. In a lengthy at-bat, Farris hit a two-run shot. Texas State led 8-7 going into the last inning.
Their lead was short-lived, as the Eagles quickly got runners into scoring position with no outs. One run scored on a wild pitch, and the next scored on a single by Georgia Southern’s senior outfielder Bryson Trammell. Trammell’s RBI would ultimately be the winning run.
Vossos hit a leadoff double at the beginning of the ninth, but he was stranded on third. The Bobcats were unable to secure the series sweep and lost 9-8.
The Texas State Bobcats are set to take on Texas A&M (25-6, SEC 7-5) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
