Texas State Baseball Hit 8 Home Runs in a Game — Then Did It Again

Some things in baseball you just have to see to believe.

Texas State baseball gave the college baseball world two of those moments in a single week. On March 22, the Bobcats tied the program record by slugging eight home runs in a 16-6 run-rule win over then-#25 Louisiana.

Five days later, they did it again. Eight more home runs in an 18-6 run-rule win at Georgia State on March 27.

Same record. Same number. Five days apart.

Texas State is now 19-9 overall, 6-3 in the Sun Belt, and coming off of a recently ended a seven-game win streak. This isn’t a fluke anymore. This is a statement.

Game One: Sweeping a Top-25 Team and Making History Against Louisiana

The Bobcats entered the March 22 finale against Louisiana having already won the first two games of the series. But nobody could have predicted what Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark was about to look like.

Texas State scored 16 runs in seven innings. The most the program has ever put up against the Ragin’ Cajuns, topping the previous record of 13 set back in 2019. It was also only the second time in program history that Texas State has beaten Louisiana by run rule.

Eight different players contributed to the eight-home-run performance. Ethan Farris and Dawson Park each went deep twice. Jackson Cotton, Chase Mora, Clayton Namken, and Manny Salas each added one. All nine players in the lineup scored at least once, with six scoring multiple times.

The third inning was the moment that stopped everyone in their tracks.

Farris launched a three-run home run to left center. The very next pitch, Namken went yard to center. The pitch after that, Mora took one out to left center. Back-to-back-to-back home runs. The first time the Bobcats had done it since April 29, 2025 against UTSA.

Cotton’s second-inning shot traveled 473 feet to right center. Park’s two-run blast in the fifth went 458 feet to left center. These weren’t cheap shots.

Salas was the offensive engine, going 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored. Farris matched him with four RBI of his own. Park drove in three. Galloway extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single in the first.

Jesus Tovar earned the win, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits while striking out three. JR Tollett took the loss, surrendering 11 runs on 11 hits in just three innings.

Game Two: Same Record, Same Week, Same Three Players

If you thought once was remarkable, five days later, the Bobcats did it all over again.

This time it was at Atlanta’s GSU Baseball Complex, and Texas State wasted no time getting to work. In the second inning, with Jaquae Stewart aboard after a walk, Farris hit a two-run homer to center. Namken immediately followed with one to left field. Mora went right behind him with another to center.

Back-to-back-to-back. Again. The same three players, in the same order, for the second time in five days.

Hitting coach Danny-David Linahan didn’t hold back when reflecting on it.

“It’s so rare for a team to hit back-to-back homers, let alone back-to-back-to-back,” Linahan said. “It’s fun to watch and a moment you remember for a long time. Then you think about it being the same three players to hit three in a row in the same week…we may never see that in our lifetimes again. Special baseball feat.”

The carnage didn’t stop there. The Bobcats sent 14 batters to the plate in the third inning alone, scoring nine runs.

Stewart hit two home runs in that frame, including a grand slam to cap the scoring. Farris added his second homer of the night right after Stewart’s first. The final line was 18-6 in seven innings.

Farris was otherworldly. He finished 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple, five RBI and three runs scored.

Stewart added five RBI and three runs of his own with his two-homer night. Namken went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Galloway extended his hitting streak to 18 games.

There was another milestone buried in the box score. Chase Mora’s home run was the 35th of his career. That puts him one away from tying the Texas State program record. A record held by Paul Goldschmidt.

Kyle Froehlich picked up the win, going four innings. Braylen Timmins closed it out by striking out the side in the seventh.

This Isn’t a Lineup With Just Two Stars on It

What makes this week so remarkable isn’t just the home run totals. It’s how spread out the damage was.

Against Louisiana, six different players homered. Against Georgia State, six different players homered. Some of them different names than the first game. Farris, Namken, and Mora did it in both. But Cotton, Park, Salas, Galloway and Stewart all had their moments too.

Linahan drew a pointed comparison to explain exactly what this offense is built to do.

“This isn’t an offense carried by a player or two,” he said. “Numbers-wise, it reminds me a bit of our offense with the Twins in 2023 that helped win the AL Central. We weren’t carried by one or two superstars.”

“We had double-digit players hit double-digit home runs, which hadn’t happened there. That creates pressure every pitch on the opponent when they start to try and navigate pitching to our lineup with multiple threats.”

Think about what that means for a pitching staff trying to navigate Texas State’s order. There is no soft spot. There is no one to pitch around. Louisiana burned through six pitchers in seven innings. Georgia State used five and still gave up 18.

“Our Texas State group has hunted pitches and competed together and when we roll it’s dangerous like we saw this past week,” Linahan added. “That’s what we’re trying to do here consistently and our players have put in the work. I’m happy for them to be able to see glimpses of what we can do together.”

Built for the Postseason, Not Just March

Here’s the thing. None of this is happening because the Bobcats woke up one week and decided to swing for the fences.

The philosophy behind this offense is deliberate. Linahan is clear about it.

“We’re not necessarily chasing home runs. We want to score in any and every way. But we do put a premium on swinging at good pitches to hit and hitting the ball hard,” Linahan said. “That’s true in the way we recruit and develop hitters. In my opinion, if you want to beat high-caliber pitching in the postseason, you need to be able to score quickly and at any point. That’s what we’re building for.”

The results back it up. In two seven-inning games this week, Texas State scored 34 total runs. The home runs were the highlight, but look closer at the box scores: walks drawn, contact sprayed around the field, hitters working counts.

This isn’t a team that goes all-or-nothing. The 16-run game against Louisiana came with 16 hits, five walks, and just five strikeouts.

And when Linahan says the work deserves credit, he means it.

“When you hit eight homers in a game, twice in one week, I tip my cap to the work our guys have put in. That doesn’t just happen.”

Where This Program Is Headed

Texas State is 19-9 overall, 6-3 in the Sun Belt, and playing its best baseball of the season, coming off of a recent seven-game winning streak.

There’s a Chase Mora chasing history. One home run away from the all-time program record held by Paul Goldschmidt. There’s a Rashawn Galloway with an 18-game hitting streak who just keeps showing up.

There’s an Ethan Farris who went 5-for-5 with two homers in a road game and looked completely unbothered doing it. There are back-to-back-to-back home runs that happened twice in five days by the same three players.

College baseball has a habit of crowning contenders in June. But right now, in late March, the Bobcats are making a compelling case that they belong in that conversation.

The postseason is still a long way away. But this week, Texas State looked like a team that’s already thinking about it.