Coming into San Marcos this weekend, Troy was being hailed as the “hottest team in the nation” by experts and analysts across the country. The Bobcats made sure that narrative didn’t last long.

Texas State baseball (26-26, 12-15 Sun Belt Conference) defeated No. 21 Troy University (35-18, 17-10 Sun Belt Conference) in extra innings on the back of sophomore infielder Chase Mora’s walk-off home run by a score of 8-6 Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark. 

The walk-off victory clinched the series for Texas State and kept them in the hunt for a Sun Belt tournament berth. 

The Bobcats jumped out to a 5-1 lead after four innings, but Troy refused to go away quietly, scoring five unanswered runs to take a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. 

Mora stepped to the plate at the bottom of the ninth and singled into left field, plating freshman outfielder Samson Pugh to tie the game and keep the Bobcats alive. 

After scoreless 10th and 11th innings for the Trojans, Mora found himself back at the plate with a chance to win it and did just that, hitting a no-doubter over the left field net that landed on the softball field to walk it off for Texas State and secure a top-25 series victory. 

Senior pitcher Tony Robie turned in a quality start on the Mound for the Bobcats, tossing 5.0 innings and giving up three earned runs. 

Senior pitcher Rhett McCaffety only threw ⅓ of an inning but was the winning pitcher for the game, improving his season record to 3-0. 

Texas State will face McNeese University on Tuesday before traveling to Mississippi for its final conference series of the season to take on the University of Southern Mississippi (34-17, 18-9 Sun Belt Conference). 

The opening pitch in the first pitch between Texas State and McNeese is scheduled to be thrown at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at Joe Miller Ballpark in Lake Charles, Louisiana.