NORFOLK, Va. – The offense slugged 15 hits with six of them going for extra bases and
Levi Wells had a nearly non-hittable performance on the mound as Texas State (28-15, 11-8 Sun Belt) took the series opener 11-1 over Old Dominion (27-14, 10-9 Sun Belt) Friday night from Bud Metheny Stadium.
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"That was probably the most complete game we had all year. It starts with
Levi Wells on the mound. He was astounding with multiple pitches for strikes," said head coach
Steven Trout. "We could have lifted him after six, but with the doubleheader tomorrow he selflessly went out there for one more dominating inning to save our bullpen even more. The team played great defense and also connected with a lot of barrels at the plate."
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Wells (7-2) tossed seven scoreless innings and recorded 10 strikeouts while limiting the Monarchs to two hits and only walked two. Blake Morgan (3-4) took the loss after giving up seven runs on 11 hits in 3.1 innings.
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Both
Reece Gould and
Austin Smith threw an inning out of the bullpen with a strikeout.
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Recording three base knocks on the night was
Ryan Leary,
Chase Mora and
Davis Powell. Both Leary and Mora, along with
Jose Gonzalez, drove in two runs each. All three of Leary's hits went for extra bases with two doubles and a home run.
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The scoring began for the Bobcats in the second when Leary smashed a two-run homer. Two more runs would be plated in the next inning as
Daylan Pena doubles up the middle and Mora followed with an RBI single. The lead grew to seven in the fourth when
Ben McClain laced an RBI single to center and two batters later Gonzalez brought home two more runs.
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With one out in the fifth, Leary laced a double down the left field line. He would move up to third on a groundout and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-0.
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Mora leadoff the seventh with a deep shot to left center that the centerfield was able to get under. However, the ball bounced off the palm of his glove for a two-base error.
Rashawn Galloway went the other way to bring home Mora while Galloway would eventually score on a wild pitch to increase the advantage to 10 runs.
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The final run of the game for Texas State in the ninth when Mora demolished a 2-1 pitch to left field for his team leading 13th home run of the season.
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In the bottom of the frame, the Monarchs scored their lone run of the contest on a single off the bat of pinch hitter Jay Tarkenton.
Game two of the series is currently scheduled for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday.
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