ATLANTA, Ga. – The Texas State softball team suffered a pair of setbacks Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader against Georgia State. The Bobcats dropped game one by a score of 4-1 before falling 2-0 in game two. Texas State falls to 20-9 overall and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play.
 
Kelli Baker and Kendall Wiley led the Bobcats on Saturday with three hits apiece. Baker notched two hits and tallied an RBI in game one while Wiley had two singles in game two. Baker has now reached base 25 consecutive times this season.
 
Game One
Much like she has throughout the whole season, Baker led the team off by getting on base. Baker doubled off the wall in deep center and made her way to third before being stranded due to three straight outs in the infield.
 
Texas State capitalized in the fifth due in part to a pinch hit single by Lexi Fryar with one out. Fryar got the ball rolling as in the next at bat, Kayleigh Norte drew her second walk of the game to put runners on first and second for Baker. Baker then singled up the middle and Fryar came all the way around to score to give Texas State a 1-0 advantage.
 
Five straight scoreless innings for Georgia State was snapped in the sixth as Ivie Drake led the inning off with the game-tying home run to left. Two batters later, Taylor Anderson connected on a pitch to send it over the fences and give Georgia State the 2-1 lead. Two more runs scored in the inning before a fly out to left halted the Panthers rally.
 
Until the Georgia State sixth inning, Texas State had held its opponents scoreless for 27 consecutive innings.
 
A walk by Kendall Wiley and a bloop single by Sara Rupp got a seventh inning rally started, but a pair of ground outs and a fly out to right put an end to the 'Cats chances of getting back on the board.
 
Randi Rupp was dealt her fifth loss of the season and she falls to 14-5 overall. She finished the day with six strikeouts and five hits allowed.
 
Game Two
The Bobcats got their lead-off batter on in both contests Saturday. Corrina Liscano led the second game off with a walk and a wild pitch later in the inning had Liscano going all the way to third. A pair of strikeouts and a fly out to right during the next three at bats left Liscano stranded at third.
 
In the Panthers half of the third inning, a pair of infield singles put runners on first and second with no outs. A ground out and a strikeout notched the first two outs of the inning and kept the Panther runners on second and third. A passed ball, however, scored the first Panther run of the game.
 
Texas State didn't have another base runner until the fourth inning when Baker drew a one-out walk. A single by Wiley to center moved Baker to third and that would be the furthest base she would reach safely as she registered the third out of the inning after getting caught on a stolen base play.
 
Georgia State added one more in the fifth with two outs. Both of the Georgia State runs proved to be unearned for Charleston as the runner that scored in the fifth got on base due to an error.
 
With one out in the top of the seventh, Wiley hit a line drive up the middle to put a spark in the Bobcat offense. A double to center by Taylor Webb on the next at bat put runners in scoring position for Texas State. A strikeout and ground out, however, by Georgia State quickly put an end to the game.
 
Charleston fell to 1-2 overall after coming in relief for Paige Williams. Charleston put in 4.1 innings of work and struck out three while not allowing any walks.
 
The Bobcats will play one more game against the Panthers Sunday morning at 11 a.m. CT at Bob Heck Field in Atlanta, Ga. Live stats will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.