RUSTON, La. – Junior pitcher Paige Williams tossed her first Texas State no-hitter Friday afternoon against Mississippi Valley State en route to leading the softball team to a sweep at the Louisiana Tech Invitational. The Bobcats extended their winning streak to four games with a 10-0 shutout over Houston Baptist and an 8-0 shutout against MVSU.
 
The Bobcats improve to 7-1 on the year with three games remaining at the Louisiana Tech Invitational.
 
Game One – Houston Baptist
Two Houston Baptist errors and one Bobcat hit in the first inning led to three runs scored for Texas State. Kelli Baker made her way to the bases to start the day after an error by the Huskies third baseman. A walk by Bianca Prado set Ariel Ortiz up for runners on first and second with no one out. Ortiz proceeded to lay down a sacrifice bunt to move her teammates to second and third.
 
A single up the middle by Corrina Liscano scored the first two Bobcats runs of the day in the first. Liscano ultimately scored the third run of the day after the second Houston Baptist error of the inning.
 
The Bobcats added one more in the second and in the third inning, Texas State strung together six hits to score six runs and put the game out of reach. A walk by Kendall Wiley followed by a single by Taylor Webb started off the inning with two on and no outs. Texas State ultimately stranded three runners as 11 Bobcats made it to the plate in the fourth.
 
After starter Randi Rupp put in three scoreless innings allowing just one hit with four strikeouts, junior transfer Quincy Charleston came in relief for two innings and struck out five of the six batters she faced. She retired one batter with a ground out. Rupp earned the victory in game one and moved to 5-1 on the year.
 
Baker, Ortiz, and Liscano all notched two hits each for the Bobcats and seven total 'Cats recorded a hit in the game. Baker and Kayleigh Norte had two RBIs each and Baker, Prado, and Norte all scored two runs each.
 
Game Two – Mississippi Valley State
Williams' first Texas State no-hitter featured six strikeouts and just two walks allowed. The victory improved her to 2-0 this season.
 
Texas State picked up where it left off in game one by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning against the Devilettes. Baker led off the game with a walk and just two batters later, she made her way home off of a double by Ortiz.
 
Liscano made her way to the base paths after getting hit by a pitch on the next at bat and she proved to be the third Bobcat run of the inning. The 'Cats finished with three hits in the inning.
 
After a scoreless second, Texas State tacked on four more in the bottom of the third. Ortiz hit her second double of the day to lead off the inning which sparked six out of the next seven batters to reach base safely.
 
Back-to-back walks issued in the top of the fourth inning by Williams were the only blemishes on the stat sheet resulting in her no-hitter.
 
Wiley went 3-for-3 in the game against MVSU with one RBI and two runs scored. Ortiz finished the second game going 2-for-2 from the plate with two doubles and one RBI. She scored both times she made it on base. Kimberlin Naivar also notched two hits for the Bobcats in three at bats. She finished with a run scored and an RBI.
 
The Bobcats finished the day with a team batting average of .442 with 19 hits and 18 runs scored. Ortiz hit three doubles and Baker recorded her first triple of the season. Texas State pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts and just three walks allowed.
 
Texas State will take to the field for a doubleheader tomorrow, beginning with Abilene Christian at 1:15 p.m. The Bobcats have already competed against the Wildcats twice this season in the opening tournament of the season. Texas State is 2-0 against Abilene Christian this season and 3-0 all-time.
 
Game two of the day is a match-up against Belmont scheduled for 4 p.m. in Ruston, La. Live stats will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.