BOONE, N.C. - Texas State kept rolling Saturday after an 8-3 victory over Appalachian State Friday night. Cedric Vallieres belted a two-run ninth-inning homer to break open a 4-4 tie and put the Bobcats ahead for good en route to a 6-4 victory Saturday, earning the series win for Texas State. The Bobcats improve to 4-1 in Sun Belt Conference action and 7-10-1 on the year.

The Bobcats built a 4-0 lead through the first four and a half innings of the game, but Appalachian State erased it with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth. After two hit batters and a walk to load the bases, App State's Michael Pierson knocked out a grand slam to tie the game in a hurry, 4-4.

Nobody else could score through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but in the top of the ninth, Vallieres knocked the hit of the day. Cory Geisler led the inning off with a single, and the Bobcats were looking to sacrifice bunt him over to second base. However, after two failed bunt attempts by Vallieres, the call was off and the senior from Canada had the green light. He made it count with his team-leading third home run of the season to put the Bobcats up, 6-4. The entire dugout came out to greet him after the hit.

Vallieres finished the day with two runs scored and two RBI on his fateful hit. Meanwhile, David Paiz went 3-for-5 while both Geisler and Granger Studdard finished 2-for-5 on the day. The first four of the order combined for eight of Texas State's 11 hits and four RBI on the day. Tanner Hill, Derek Scheible and Ben McElroy also tallied hits in the game.

After Vallieres put the Bobcats up late, it was up to Blake Whitter to close the game out and get his second win of the season. He forced two groundouts and a fly out to end the game. In 2.1 innings of work, Whitter was on fire, striking out two battters and only giving up one hit.

Scott Grist started the day for the Bobcats and went 6.1 innings in the start. He gave up seven hits and three earned runs but struck out four. Outside of the fifth inning, the Mountaineers struggled against the senior all day.

Vallieres was the last Bobcat to cross home plate Saturday as well as the first. He reached base on an error in the first inning. A batter later, Studdard hit a deep triple to left center to plate Vallieres and give the Bobcats the early 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Derek Scheible led off with a single and Theodore Hoffman followed with a walk. Later, Scheible made his way to third, forcing a throwing error from Appalachian State. He took advantage to score Texas State's second run of the day on the play. After that, Cory Geisler knocked a double to left centerfield to plate Hoffman and put the Bobcats up 3-0.

Texas State added the team's fifth run in the fifth inning. Paiz, Studdard and Hill knocked consecutive singles to start the inning with Paiz scoring on Hill's. It was after that, though, that Appalachian State was able to tie the game. The grand slam from the Mountaineers would not be enough Saturday as Vallieres came up with the big hit in the big moment.

The Bobcats will look for the sweep on Sunday. The teams are scheduled for a first pitch at 12 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. EST.