MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Sophomore
Daylan Pena crushed a 1-0 offering over the left field wall to walk-it off in the 12th inning as Texas State (36-22) advanced on in the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University with a 6-5 victory over Georgia State (30-29) Thursday afternoon from Riverwalk Stadium.
It was the longest game for the Bobcats since Mar. 9, 2019 at Bobcat Ballpark against Connecticut that also went 12 frames. The contest was also the longest postseason game in program history.
Triston Dixon (6-1) earned the win after throwing four scoreless innings out of the bullpen with six strikeouts while only giving up two walks and one base knock. Ryan Watson (7-2) served up the walk-off hit as he recorded an out.
Starting on the rubber for TXST was
Tony Robie. The junior right-hander struck out two in 6.2 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits.
Jack Stroud punched out two in 1.1 innings and gave up an unearned run out of the bullpen.
At the dish,
Kameron Weil went 4-for-6 as all of his hits were singles. He also scored twice and swiped his 10th base of the season. Pena finished 3-for-6 with two runs scored while Jose Gonzales had two base knocks and drew the team's lone walk of the game.
The Panthers struck first their first time at the dish when Max Ryerson hit a solo shot to left field.
In the bottom of the frame, Weil reached on a bad throw from the pitcher and
Davis Powell was plunked. Pena would then single through the left side to load the bases. The first pitch to
Chase Mora saw him send it back up the middle for an RBI single.
Rashawn Galloway hit a chopper to third that saw the throw go wide of the first baseman and allowed all three runners to score to put the Bobcats ahead 4-1.
The next inning saw Weil single through the right side, steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. He would come home when Gonzalez singled to center to increase the advantage to four.
GSU would tack on a run in the fifth when Ryerson hit a seeing-eye single back up the middle. The Panther senior would drive in his third run of the game on a single to left in the seventh. They would add on two more to tie the game thanks to a dropped fly ball that would have ended the inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Weil and Powell hit back-to-back singles and Gonzalez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Pena got his barrel on a 1-1 pitch that went right to the left fielder for the final out of the inning and send the game to extras.
The first two batters reached for the Panthers in the 10th. A sacrifice bunt attempt went right to Dixon, who got the lead runner out at third. The senior right-hander then recorded a strikeout and induced a foul out to Manning to escape the jam.
With one gone in the 12th, Pena crushed the second pitch to him to advance the Bobcats to Friday in the Sun Belt Championship.
Next up for Texas State will be the loser of the game between Coastal Carolina and Louisiana that will be played later Thursday night.
For all things Texas State baseball, be sure to follow the team on
Facebook,
Instagram and
Twitter.
