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Chase Mora throws the ball across the field on defense in Texas State’s game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Mora lead the team in hitting going 3-4 with a single, double, and a home run along with a game high four RBIs.
Daily Record Photo by Gerald Castillo

Bobcats defeat Golden Eagles in thrilling win

TXST BASEBALL
Tuesday, March 21, 2023

In a heavyweight clash of titans, the Texas State Bobcats were able to put away the Southern Miss Golden Eagles for a massive 8-5 win.

The series win was big for senior outfielder Ben McClain as it was the mental aspect that pushed the team to take the victory.

“It was great,” McClain said. “It was a hard fought weekend … They are a good ball club but mentally and physically we were stronger. We were able to strike back after they hit us first.”

Head coach Steve Trout was proud of his team for their ability to keep fighting back despite being down not only in the Sunday game but in the Saturday game as well.

“I thought it was a really good Sunday win,” Trout said. “It was one of those that you would have to keep battling. As soon as you get comfortable in these games they would score another run. The pitchers did a great job of controlling the strike zone and we won the free 90s battle, which was a huge piece of it. We just kept grinding out at-bats and finding ways to score runs.”

The bullpen once again made another strong showing allowing just four hits, two runs, and throwing three strikeouts.

Triston Dixon captured his first win of the season going 3.2 innings and allowing just two hits and one run.

Rhett McCaffery earned his first career save with the Bobcats coming into the ninth inning for relief for Dixon following a walk.

McCaffrey earned the final two outs ending the game on a strikeout to seal the win.

But the bullpen wasn’t only the piece that helped Texas State in the win.

One of the keys to the victory was the Bobcats fielding which turned the tide in several key situations where Southern Miss had the opportunity to retake the lead and seize the momentum.

“The story of the weekend for us was playing really good defense,” Trout said. “Davis Powell made great plays and McClain made that catch in center today.”

On the catch made by McClain, Southern Miss looked to re-take the lead trailing 7-5 with the bases loaded but had two outs.

The Golden Eagles were able to connect with a long fly ball towards center field but McClain was able to track the baseball to the warning track before diving to make the catch and crashing into the wall in center.

McClain knew the ball was going far and just needed to prepare himself when he eventually made contact with the green wall.

“Through my head, I was thinking, okay the wind has been picking up and the ball is going to carry over my head,’ McClain said. “I just got ready to hit the wall just in case. I was running and turning then boom the wall was right there. All I had to do was just catch it.”

On the offense, freshman sensation Chase Mora was on fire once more going 3-4 for Texas State with three RBIs in the game including a solo homerun in the eighth inning to extend the lead at 8-5.

The Bobcats are back at Bobcat Ballpark tonight as they host the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders.

The Islanders are coming off of a four-game series against Harvard where Corpus Christi won the series at three games to win including sweeping a double-header on Saturday.

First pitch is at 6 p.m..

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc

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