SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team picked up a split Saturday afternoon at the CenturyLink Classic with a 4-3 victory over DePaul and a 1-0 defeat against Northwestern State. The Bobcats move to 3-1 on the young season.
 
Game 1 – DePaul
The Blue Demons got on the board quick against Texas State with a solo shot to dead center in the top of the first inning. It took Texas State three innings, but Kimberlin Naivar evened up the game at 1-1 with her first home run of the 2016 season. Naivar's home run was the first Texas State hit of the day.
 
DePaul quickly answered Naivar's home run with another solo shot of its own to take a 2-1 advantage over the Bobcats.
 
The Blue Demons went on to add one more in the top of the fifth. DePaul, with two outs, reached base on a Bobcat error and quickly capitalized on the next at bat with a double down the left field line. The run scored, due to reaching base on an error, was unearned for Paige Williams.
 
With two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore shortstop Ariel Ortiz connected on her first home run of the season that bounced off the top of the wall to give Texas State a 4-3 lead. The Bobcats loaded the bases before the inning was over, but a strikeout by the DePaul pitcher ended Texas State's chances of adding more in the fifth.
 
Williams earned her first win as a Bobcat in 5.1 innings pitched. She finished the day with one strikeout while not allowing any walks. Randi Rupp came in relief for Williams in the sixth inning and struck out one en route to her first save of the year.
 
Game 2 – Northwestern State
A pair of doubles in the first inning by Northwestern State would result in the only run scored in the entirety of the contest.
 
In the top of the third, freshman Kayleigh Norte broke up Northwestern State's no-hitter with a double down the left field line. Kelli Baker advanced Norte over to third on a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. The Bobcats had a chance to score on the next at bat with a ball hit to the outfield by Bianca Prado, but heads up defense by the Northwestern State outfield kept Norte from advancing home.
 
With two outs and Kendall Wiley on first after a walk, Corrina Liscano doubled to left center for the second Bobcat hit of the day. That would be the extent of the Bobcat offense for the rest of the game as Northwestern State held on for its first victory over Texas State since 2011.
 
Randi Rupp was handed her first loss of the 2016 season after putting in 6.0 innings of work with nine strikeouts and no walks.
 
Who Stood Out:
Paige Williams earned her first win as a Bobcat in 5.1 innings pitched against DePaul while Randi Rupp earned her first save … Rupp finished the day with 10 strikeouts after throwing nine against Northwestern State … Kayleigh Norte was the lone Bobcat to record a hit in each game.
 
Up Next:
Texas State will take to the field two more times in the CenturyLink Classic, beginning with Oklahoma State at 12 p.m. and finishing with Abilene Christian at 2 p.m. Sunday. Live stats, live audio, and live video available at www.txstatebobcats.com.