COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Senior third basemen Chase Mora saved the day for Texas State as the Bobcats flipped the script in the ninth to complete a comeback and secure a 5-4 victory against the No. 25 University of Southern California Trojans Friday night at the College Station Regional at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.

Mora headlines the victory with his go-ahead home run and game-saving defensive plays as the ‘Cats completed yet another come-from-behind victory in the postseason, going toe-to-toe against one of the top teams in the nation, even if they didn’t play their best ball, as evident with leaving multiple runners on base and a couple errors that kept the Trojans in the game.

But the Bobcats, as head coach Steven Trout said, found ways to keep surviving.

“I’ll be honest, we didn’t play very good today and It’s kind of hard to say that after you get a regional win,” Trout said. “We just felt like we were surviving all night long…We talk about toughness and response all the time, that whole game was capsulated in a bunch of toughness.”

Texas State started senior lefty Ryan Markwardt against Trojans sophomore starter Grant Govel. While the Bobcats went into a bullpen game after the third inning, Govel nearly pitched a quality start, going 5 2/3 innings pitched with six strikeouts while giving up three runs on four hits.

After a relatively quiet first inning that included Mora preventing a Trojan run from scoring, Texas State got a pair of runners on after junior first basemen Jaquae Stewart led off with a double off the centerfield walk before following up with junior second basemen Justin Vossos reaching second after USC’s defense was unable to field a popup on the outskirts of the infield.

Mora provided the first run of the game for the ‘Cats in the top half of the second with a sacrifice fly deep into right that allowed Stewart to score easily to make it a 1-0 game in the top of the second.

The Trojans evened the score in the bottom half through a series of shenanigans that had a bobbled pick at first that scored the tying run easily. Stewart tossed to second to try and get the runner out, only to throw it into left field. However, they caught the potential go-ahead runner once more at third base, preventing any potential scoring.

In the third, junior Alec Beversdorf took over after a high-pitch outing from Markwardt. Though he started strong with back-to-back strikeouts, USC took the lead in the third when junior second baseman Abbrie Covarrubias crushed a pitch deep into left field. Despite consecutive singles afterwards, Texas State managed to limit the bleeding to just one run, making it 3-1.

When it seemed as though all momentum belonged to the Trojans, sophomore shortstop Brady Boles swung it back to an even 3-3 ballgame with a high-fly bomb into left that drifted just enough over the outfield to make it a new ballgame.

Through the next few innings, it turned into a staring contest between the pitching staffs of Texas State and USC. The Trojans kept threatening but impressive defensive plays, highlighted with senior right fielder Rashawn Galloway crashing into the right field wall to make a two-out catch to prevent scoring, kept the game tied.

“You want your team to run through a wall for you, and [Galloway] literally ran through a wall for us,” Trout said.

Galloway was subbed out in the bottom of the ninth, and was given an X-Ray, which revealed no damage.

In the bottom of the eighth though, freshman pitcher Wade Cooper blinked as junior first basemen Adrian Lopez sent a pitch deep into the Bobcats bullpen to give the Trojans a 4-3 lead, their first since the third inning.

In the top of the ninth, the Bobcats were down to their last three outs and on the verge of playing in the Loser’s bracket. Vossos was able to reach after a fielding error occurred from third base, giving Texas State life. Sophomore Samson Pugh came in for freshman Blake Beheler and bunted to advance Vossos to second, putting the tying run on second with Mora coming up to bat.

To that point, Mora had contributed both positively and negatively, providing some scoring for the Bobcats but also having a rather poor defensive game at third base that allowed the Trojans offense to keep threatening. Through all of that, he kept his focus on what was ahead of him.

“It’s all about what Trout always says, stay in the present moment,” Mora said. “You can only control what you can do going forward.”

With that, and after USC made a pitching change with junior closer Adam Troy, Mora sent a 1-0 pitch deep into left centerfield, triumphantly strutting the bases as Blue Bell Park exploded with cheers from the Bobcat faithful.

Despite giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth, Cooper remained in the game in an attempt to finish the job for good, as the coaching staff kept their faith in the freshman pitcher.

“I have so much gratitude that this coaching staff can trust me to have the ball in big moments like this,” Cooper said. “That gave me all the confidence in the world to finish the game out.”

He quickly got two outs after a walk, but after tossing a wild pitch to move the tying run to second, the Trojans threatened to not only even the game, but walk it off altogether.

Junior shortstop Dean Carpentier cracked a 2-2 pitch that appeared to be going into left field, but a leaping Mora caught it before it had a chance to leave the infield, sealing Texas State’s victory for good.

Through it all, the Bobcats pitching staff and late inning heroics prevailed once more. This was Texas State’s second ninth-inning comeback in the postseason, their first occurring against Louisiana-Lafayette in the SBC Tournament Quarterfinal on May 21. The pitching staff, while they did give up runs, did just enough to keep the bleeding from worsening, as the Trojans left 14 players on the base paths.

The Bobcats enter Saturday heading into the 1-0 game, where they will play at 8 p.m. against the hosting No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies for a third time this season at Blue Bell Park. If Texas State wins, they will play in the Regional final. A loss will send them to the loser’s bracket to play the winner out of USC and the Lamar Cardinals.

It will be available to watch on ESPN2.