The Troy Trojans surrendered eight runs in the game’s final three innings on Thursday and fell to the Texas State Bobcats 11-6 in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament.

Corey Childress took the loss for the Trojans. He pitched 2.1 innings and allowed four runs, three of them earned on five hits.

Childress relieved starter Grand Bennett who lasted 5.2 innings and allowed three runs on six hits.

The Bobcats got the offense going early in the first inning when Tanner Hill hit a two-run homer to left field.

The Trojans answered in the second inning when TJ Binder grounded out to second base to score Trevor Davis and Brandon Lockridge flied out to score Davis.

The Trojans put on a power display in the fourth inning and jumped out to a two-run lead after Justin Friend and Davis both homered.

After giving up the homerun in the first inning, Bennett sat down 11 straight batters heading into the sixth inning.

That’s when the Bobcat offense came to life. The fifth seeded Bobcats scored in the final four innings including a run in the sixth on single by Granger Studdard and another run in the seventh inning on a fielding error by Peyton Fuller to even the score at four.

The Bobcats attempted to put the game away in the eighth inning when they scored three runs on five hits.

The big hit came off the bat of Derek Scheible who singled to left field. Two runs came across to score on another Trojan error.

With the Trojans already trailing 7-4 heading into the ninth inning the Bobcats continued to press down on the gas pedal.

The Bobcats scored four more runs in the ninth on four hits including a triple by Dylan Paul and a homerun by Cory Geisler.

The Trojans scored two runs in the ninth inning on a double to left center by Chase Smartt to score both Lockridge and Binder.

The Trojans finished with seven hits and were led by Davis who finished 2-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. He was the only Trojan to have more than one hit in the contest.

With the loss the Trojans now move into the loser’s bracket where they will take on the loser of Arkansas State and UL Lafayette on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN3.