Bobcats take down Georgia State in extra innings

The Bobcats proved who the top cat was as Texas State knocked off the Georgia State Panthers with a walk off home run by first baseman Daylan Pena, winning 6-5 in 12 innings.

Following a rough loss to arch rival Louisiana in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament, the Bobcats and Head Coach Steven Trout kept their season alive in a heated contest.

“What a gusty win there,” Trout said. “It was always a battle with those guys, so a lot of respect for Georgia State. You can’t really dissect it [the win] too much besides winning one run and that is the most important thing … I’m really proud of these guys and our entire team.”

Both the Bobcats and the Panthers battled in an epic 12 inning war after combining for 10 runs in the first seven innings before playing a scoreless four innings.

Facing 1-0 count, Pena delivered the game winning run by blasting a solo home run into left field to seal the win.

Before slamming his helmet into the ground and stepping across home plate with an emphatic stomp, Pena approached his at-bat by going back to his basics.

“It’s about staying simple,” Pena said. “I was just trying to find a way to get on base. It’s about sticking to my approach and finding something to drive. He [the pitcher] left the pitch in the middle inside and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

Pena’s home run followed an epic four inning outing from pitcher Triston Dixon, who recorded his sixth win of the season.

As Dixon entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with the game tied at 5-5, the senior allowed just one hit, no runss and two walks while striking out six Panther batters.

“I just had really good command of my pitches,” Dixon said. “I was throwing a really good slider which was making them [the batters] want to chase it outside. Having the outer half with both the heater and the slider helped me through. I knew my guys were going to have my back, so I needed to give them some time.”

Even Trout said he knew Dixon was on top of his game that day.

“He would not let me take him out of the game,” Trout said. “He made some huge pitches and got better as the game went along.”

It was a rebound performance for the Texas State offense after managing just one hit against Louisiana, as the Bobcats pounded the Panthers for 11 hits and six runs for the day.

The Bobcats made it for the slow game with a four run first inning kicked off by a Chase Mora RBI single.

Texas State extended their lead against Georgia State by throwing on a Rashawan Galloway fielder’s choice, with the bases loaded and cleared the bases to go up 4-1.

Jose Gonzales tacked on a run in the second inning with an RBI single into center field, as the Bobcats scored five unanswered runs after trailing 1-0 in the first inning.

“Right from the getgo, we were really executing in our approach,” Trout said. “Middle of the field, line drives, low line drives and just getting after it. That is what this team can do really well. Even though the majority of the innings we didn’t score, I felt like we were getting back to our old selves.”

Texas State will face the loser of Coastal Carolina and Louisiana before time of press.