SAN MARCOS, Texas – A total of 14 homes runs, seven by each team, were hit Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark. The last coming off the bat of
August Ramirez as he hit a walk-off two-run long ball that gave Texas State (9-5) a 19-18 win over North Dakota State (1-13). Four of the Bobcats' homers were hit by
Chase Mora that set a new program game record.
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"They keep fighting. I'm never sad about a win. Found a way to win and just keep grinding, responding and overcoming adversity. You leave with a victory, you are always happy," said head coach
Steven Trout.
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"All of our home runs were either middle of the field or the other way. They really bought into our approach right now. They see in this ballpark when you do that you can have a lot of success," said Trout. "It was windy day and blowing out like crazy. They didn't try to do too much and kept stacking good at-bat after good at-bat."
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Mora hit a three-run home run in the second, a two-run round tripper in the third and another three-run shot in the fourth. After just missing sending the ball out in the sixth, the freshman smashed his fourth homer just over the centerfield wall in the eighth. He is the first player this season to hit four home runs in a game and the first freshman to do so since Florida's JJ Schwarz accomplished the feat against Stetson on Apr. 7, 2015.
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Along with the home run mark, Mark tied the team record with nine RBI in the contest. He matches a mark set by John Tompkins on Mar. 28, 1999 against Southeastern Louisiana and matched against UT Arlington by Tanner Hill on May 16, 2015.
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Along with Mora and Ramirez, also sending the ball over the fence was
Rashawn Galloway and
Cade Manning. The seven homers are tied for the second most in a game by TXST and are the only team in the country to have multiple games with seven or more long balls.
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Finish with two hits on the day was
Jose Gonzalez,
Peyton Lewis and
Ben McClain. Both Gonzalez and Lewis scored three times and coming around twice was
Daylan Pena,
Davis Powell and Galloway.
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Reece Gould (1-0) earned the win after recording the final out in the top of the ninth.
Nathan Medrano struck out six in his fourth start of the season. Punching out two was
Triston Dixon,
Tony Robie and
Jack Stroud while
Rhett McCaffety was the lone Bobcat hurler to not have a run allowed credited to his name.
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After the Bison scored a run in the top of the second, TXST responded with eight runs in the bottom half. Twice the Bobcats scored on a wild pitch and the other two run-driving hits were three-run dingers by Galloway and Mora.
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The Bobcats maintained the lead until the top of the ninth. NDSU scored a run on a groundout and were able to load the bases on two walks and a single. Kyle Law came up as a pinch hitter and the freshman sent 2-1 pitch over the left center field wall for a grand slam and put the visitors up 18-17.
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Gonzalez was walked on five pitch to start off the bottom of the ninth. An 0-1 pitch to Pena was smacked to left center but the Bison centerfielder ran it down for the first out. The second pitch to Ramirez was a called strike but NDSU's catcher cramped up and had to leave the game. After the extended break, the junior catcher sent a 2-1 pitch into the netting above the left field fence for the walk-off victory.
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The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
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