For many, the king of Slam Marcos is current New York Yankee and former Texas State Bobcat Paul Goldschmidt who held the program record for most career home runs at 36.
But tonight, the Slam Marcos crown was ceremoniously given to senior Chase Mora who set a new Texas State record for most career home runs at 37 during the Bobcats doubleheader against Georgia Southern.
“They were kind of pitching me slow all weekend,” Mora said. “After seeing the first fast ball, he wasn't really commanding it. I shifted my sides to off speed and sure enough that's what I got.
“I've had a lot of big swings, but that one will obviously be one of my favorites, so it's a really cool moment.”
It was a proud moment for head coach Steven Trout who saw Mora develop as a freshman during his record breaking season and stressed the importance of why breaking the record is important during the period of college baseball.
“Anytime you break Goldschmidt’s record it's just outstanding,” Trout said. “[Mora]has been a super star since walked on campus and more importantly, has been loyal to us since he walked on campus as well. You don't see a lot of records broken anymore at this day and age because guys don't stay in a place for all 4 years. Guys bounce around and do different things, and so that's credit for [Mora], sticking with us, and sticking with the program. He can walk around as the home run champion.”
Bobcats hammer Eagles in run-rule win
Texas State hammered out six home runs against Georgia Southern as the Bobcats run-ruled the Eagles 15-5 in eight innings.
The win clinched the series for Texas State as the Bobcats have won three consecutive conference series since being swept by Louisiana Monroe in the conference opener.
The Bobcats struck first as Rashawn Galloway hit a two-run home run, extending his hitting streak to 23 games and putting the Bobcats up 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
Jaquae Stewart followed up with an RBI single to extend the lead.
Georgia Southern responded in the top of the second on an RBI single for their first hit of the game.
The Eagles loaded up the bases with two outs but Sam Hall got out of the jam by forcing the groundout.
In the bottom of the second, Justin Vossos extended the lead to 4-1, hitting his first homer in a Bobcat uniform.
The Eagles answered back in the top of the fourth, hitting a two-run home run in left field, making it a one-run game at 4-3.
Georgia Southern later took the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring on a two-run home run to go up 5-4 over Texas State.
The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the fifth. Following a leadoff double by freshman Jackson Cotton, junior Manny Salas connected with an RBI single through the right side, tying the game at 5-5.
Later in the at-bat with runners on first and second, Stewart crushed a three-run homer in right that went off the roof of the equipment shed and bounced onto the railroad tracks.
But the hits kept on coming for the Bobcat offense.
In the bottom of the sixth, Dawson Park crushed a 450 foot three-run home run in left field, extending the Bobcat lead to 11-5, his 10th of the season. In the same at-bat, redshirt sophomore Ethan Farris hit a two-run home run of his own, making it a 13-5 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, the home run show continued as Jackson Cotton hit a leadoff homer in center, making it a 14-5 game.
With the bases loaded, Farris scored the game winning run, hitting a sacrifice fly to score freshman pinch runner Zachary Gingrich at third, winning the game for the Bobcats via run-rule.
Eagles rally in the ninth to spoil Bobcat sweep
Texas State rallied from a 6-0 deficit but were unable to overcome a ninth inning rally by Georgia Southern as the Bobcats fell 9-8.
Texas State closes out the weekend with a 21-10 overall record and an 8-4 conference record while Georgia Southern improves to 11-21 and 4-8 in conference play.
Georgia Southern struck first in the top of the second, scoring on a sacrifice fly then an RBI single to lead 2-0 over the Bobcats.
The Eagles added another run in the top of the third, scoring on a bases loaded walk.
Later in the at-bat, the Eagles connected with a two-run RBI double, extending the lead to 5-0. Georgia Southern tacked on another run on a sacrifice fly, making it 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Dawson Park connected with a solo home run for the Bobcats first run of the game.
Following the home run, redshirt sophomore Farris connected with a double then freshman Clayton Namken forced a two-out walk, bringing up Mora.
Mora crushed a three-run home run not only to make it a 6-4 game but also becoming Texas State’s new leader in all-time home runs, passing Paul Goldschmidt with 37.
Texas State continued to chop into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth when Jackson Cotton connected with a leadoff double. After moving to second on a fielder’s choice, Cotton was brought home on a Manny Salas fielder’s choice, making it a one-run game at 6-5.
The Eagles tacked on a run on a Bobcat error to go up by two once more in the top of the sixth before Texas State answered in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on a fielder’s choice.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jaquae Stewart reached base on a hit by pitch, bringing Farris up to the plate.
The sophomore crushed a two-run home run in left, giving the Bobcats an 8-7 lead.
But Georgia Southern answered back with two runs in the ninth inning, scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single.
The top of the ninth saw Texas State use Park as a pitcher after playing the game at shortstop which Trout said was done due to the limited amount of arms in the bullpen.
“Some guys are down and threw too much this week,” Trout said. “Obviously, [Wade] Cooper threw on Thursday. We could risk it with those guys back there but they have big careers and we care about them more, their long-term health and things like that.
“We've been prepping for [Park to pitch] for a long time. He throws bullpens and those SIM games every week. It’s not like we threw him out there and said ‘Hey, go try to get an inning out there.’ He's throwing a ton. He's got great stuff and had a lot of success in the fall and spring. So he throws a bullpen every week. We were to the point in our staff where it's like he's got our best stuff to go get the outs. It didn't work out our way tonight. Obviously we want to get some guys healthy and lengthen out that bullpen a little bit more.”
Texas State returns to play Tuesday as the Bobcats host the Texas A&M Aggies. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in San Marcos.
