MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Texas State fell to second seeded Southern Miss 9-1 on Wednesday afternoon from Riverwalk Stadium in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Bobcats drop into the loser bracket of the tournament.
 
With the setback, TXST is now 27-30 on the season while the Golden Eagles are 41-13 overall.
 
JB Middleton (10-1) struck out 10 in seven innings while giving up a run on five hits to earn the win. Taking the loss was Jesus Tovar (3-7), who allowed three runs on four hits with one punch out in two innings.
 
Alex Valentin struck out three in two frames out of the bullpen. Shane Connell tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts and Conner Doucet retired all three batters he faced.
 
Going 2-for-2 on the day was Coy DeFury. The lone extra-base hit was a double from Chase Mora, who also scored Texas State's lone run of the game. Rashawn Galloway had one RBI while Zachary Gingrich finished 1-for-2 with a walk.
 
USM saw its first two batters reach in the game. Both would come in to score on a sacrifice fly and infield single, respectively. A high chopper in the second scored a run to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
The Eagles got a two-run homer from Jack Cook in the fourth and a two-run single courtesy of Ozzie Pratt in the fifth to give them a seven-run advantage.
 
Mora doubled down the left field line with one out in the sixth and was followed by a single from DeFury and Austin Munguia was plunked to load the bases. A 1-0 pitch to Galloway was hit to left field for an RBI single to put TXST on the scoreboard.
 
USM would go back up by seven with a run in the bottom of the frame. Another run would be tacked on in the eighth for a 9-1 advantage.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is an elimination game on Thursday against No. 3 seed Troy. The first pitch of the game is scheduled for 9 a.m.
 
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