TROY, Ala. – Texas State's defense held Troy in check for seven of the nine innings Saturday. Unfortunately, in two innings, Troy tallied 10 runs, all coming with two outs. The Trojans tallied four runs in the third and six in the sixth to go up 10-0. Texas State fought back with four runs in the eighth, but it would not be enough as Troy toppled Texas State, 10-4, to take the game and the series.
 
Bright notes for the Bobcats included late contributions from Texas State freshmen in substitution situations. In the eighth inning, when the Bobcats were able to score four runs, freshmen Dylan Paul, Mickey Scott, Theodore Hoffman and Luke Sherley all contributed, scoring each of the runs.
 
Paul started the inning with a leadoff single up the middle after working the count full, looking like an experience veteran. After him, Ben McElroy reached base on a hit by pitch. Scott hit into a fielder's choice next, but by running it out, Scott put pressure on the second baseman to turn two and Troy's Nick Masonia made the team's only mistake of the game. He threw the ball away to help Paul score from second and advance Scott to second base.
 
After a fly out, Hoffman worked the count for a walk. Then Sherley came to the plate. He caught Troy following the scouting report a bit too closely, as all of the outfielders moved up to cover for shallow fly balls to the outfield. Sherley took advantage and sent a triple over the centerfielder's head to plate both Scott and Hoffman. Then, while at third base, Sherley took advantage of a passed ball to score Texas State's fourth run of the game.
 
Unfortunately for Texas State, that was the team's best offensive inning. Defensively, fans saw great plays from the Bobcats throughout the game, including two nice running grabs from Derek Scheible and a diving play in the outfield from Colby Targun. In the third and sixth innings, though, Troy was able to do work with two outs.
 
Scott Grist struck out two batters around a walk to start the third. After that, Troy knocked two singles followed by a walk. With one runner already in and two on, Troy third baseman Peyton Fuller knocked a single to right center to score two more runs and put the Trojans up early, 4-0.
 
The bottom of the sixth started with a sly out and a strikeout, but then came four consecutive single. From there, back-to-back walks and a triple led to six runs in the inning for Troy, giving the Trojans a 10-0 lead. The top of the eighth wasn't enough for the Bobcats.
 
No Bobcat tallied multiple hits in the game, but Cory Geisler did walk twice. Cedric Vallieres added a hit and a walk while Hoffman put together a strong day, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. In all, seven Bobcats struck a hit in the game while Sherley ended up with the team's 'nly two RBI.
 
Justin Dellinger put together a good outing on the mound for Texas State, striking out a batter, walking one and only giving up one hit with no runs in 2.1 innings of work.
 
Texas State and Troy are scheduled to play the series finale at 12 p.m. Sunday with Jeremy Hallonquist taking the mound for the Bobcats and Austin Crook on the bump for Troy. Continue to follow www.txstatebobcats.com and @txstatebaseball on Twitter for any schedule changes due to weather.