AUBURN, Ala. – Commanding pitching and solid offense led the Texas State softball team to a Saturday sweep of the Connecticut Huskies by scores of 7-1 and 9-0. Texas State improves to 11-10 overall and head coach Ricci Woodard is now just five games away from eclipsing 500 wins in her 15 year career at Texas State.
 
Freshman shortstop Ariel Ortiz led the way Saturday morning, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate with a pair of doubles and a grand slam. Randi Rupp stepped into the circle and pitched both contests for the Bobcats, striking out 17 batters while allowing just five hits and four walks in 12.0 innings of work.
 
After a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats got on the board first in the bottom half of the second. The Bobcats strung together a hit and a sacrifice bunt to score Lexi Fryar who led the inning off with a walk.
 
Texas State maintained its 1-0 lead through four innings before adding insurance runs in the fifth and the sixth. Two singles and a wild pitch combined with a sacrifice bunt scored two to give Texas State a 3-0 lead in the fifth.
 
Ortiz's grand slam in the bottom half of the sixth scored Kelli Baker, Kimberlin Naivar, and Sara Rupp to give Texas State a 7-0 lead on the designated visiting team. UConn answered with one run in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, but a pair of ground outs and a strikeout by Rupp ended the game in favor of the Bobcats.
 
Rupp finished the first game with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
 
Texas State produced 14 hits and scored in all but one inning in game two of the day against the Huskies. Four of those hits occurred in the first inning to score the first three runs of the contest. Baker led the game off with a single to centerfield.
 
The Bobcats tacked on two more in the second after Ortiz, the first runner on the bases in the inning, scored on a fielder's choice by Kortney Koroll and Courtney Harris scored on a sacrifice fly by Kendall Wiley.
 
A single by Wiley in the fourth scored Ortiz for the sixth run of the game before Baker launched a three-run shot in the top of the fifth to give Texas State the 9-0 lead.
 
Six Bobcats recorded two hits in the second game and Rupp finished with just three hits allowed and eight strikeouts as she improved to 8-6 on the year.
 
The Bobcats will now begin Sun Belt Conference play next weekend against conference newcomer Georgia Southern. The two squads will play a double header on Saturday, March 7 before a single game on Sunday. Live stats will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.