MOBILE, Ala. – The Texas State softball team won in convincing fashion Friday evening to advance to its first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship by defeating the No. 4 Georgia State Panthers by a score of 9-1. The victory improves the Bobcats to 39-19 this season and 3-1 in the SBC Tournament.
 
Texas State will now play UL Lafayette for the second time in this tournament in the championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
"Once again, I thought my players fought," said head coach Ricci Woodard. "I thought Georgia State fought hard and it was a great ball game. To watch my players to continue to battle after this morning's game and to come back and battle all the way through that game, I thought they did a great job and I couldn't be more proud of them."
 
The Bobcats have been in the Sun Belt Conference for three seasons now and it is the first time that Texas State has been in a final since the 2012 Southland Conference Championship. Woodard and the Bobcats won the title that season.
 
Texas State took the early lead thanks to three singles by Bianca Prado, Kelli Baker, and Kimberlin Naivar and a sacrifice fly by Ariel Ortiz. They continued to build on that lead in the fifth when Ortiz connected on her sixth home run of the season.
 
Georgia State got a run back in the bottom half of the fifth, but an explosive seventh inning by Texas State which was highlighted by four hits and five runs to put the game out of reach of the Panthers.
 
Randi Rupp led the Bobcats to victory in the circle with 6.2 innings pitched and her 29^th win of the year.
 
WHO STOOD OUT
Randi Rupp / P / Sophomore / Mont Belvieu, Texas
Rupp continued to shine in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament by throwing 6.2 innings with four strikeouts and just one walk allowed. She did not give up any runs as she cruised to victory. It was her 29^th win of the season which is now tied for the second most in school history with Jessica Chase. Rupp comes into the championship game with 315 strikeouts, just six shy of moving into a tie for second all-time for Ks in a season. For the tournament, Rupp has a 1.33 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 26.1 innings pitched.
 
Ariel Ortiz / SS / Sophomore / Waxahachie, Texas
Ortiz led the Bobcats with two hits, three RBIs and a home run against the Panthers. It was her first home run of the tournament and sixth this season. She also led Texas State with two runs scored. Her sacrifice fly in the second inning was her third of the tournament.
 
Bianca Prado / CF / Junior / New Braunfels, Texas
Prado went 2-for-4 from the plate including two-RBI double in the top of the seventh inning. She finished the day with three putouts in centerfield and a run scored. Prado has now scored in three of the four tournament games this week and this game was her first multi-hit game of the tournament.
 
SCORING
Top 3^rd – Texas state led the inning off with a walk by Jaelyn Young and a single to left field by Bianca Prado. A single up the middle by Kelli Baker loaded the bases for Kimberlin Naivar. Naivar then singled to center to bring Braegan Hamilton, who pinch ran for Young, in to score. A sacrifice fly by Ariel Ortiz then scored Prado to give the 'Cats a 2-0 lead. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
 
Top 5^th – With one out and Baker on second after drawing a lead-off walk and stealing second, Ortiz homered to left field to give the Bobcats a 4-0 advantage. (2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
 
Bottom 5^th – Back-to-back doubles by Ivie Drake and Kensey Caldwell put the Panthers on the board. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
 
Top 7^th – Texas State loaded the bases with a single by Naivar, a single by Ortiz, and an error induced by Corrina Liscano. The first Bobcat run of the seventh crossed the plate after Taylor Webb took four straight balls. Kendall Wiley then drew a walk to make that two runs to have crossed the plate in the seventh. Young kept the inning alive with a single through the left side to score Liscano. Prado ended the scoring for the inning when she doubled to left field to score Wiley and Webb. (5 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 left on base)
 
NOTES

• This is the first Sun Belt Conference Championship for the Bobcats since joining the league in the 2013-14 season.
• Head coach Ricci Woodard has won four total conference tournament championships since coming to Texas State in 2001.
• This was the 10^th game this season Texas State had recorded at least 10 hits in a game.
• Kimberlin Naivar has registered a hit in all four games this week. She leads the team with eight so far for the tournament with three multi-hit contests.
• Four players in all had multi-hit games against the Panthers which in addition to Prado and Ortiz included Naivar and Kelli Baker.
• Texas State finished the season against Georgia State with a 2-2 record after dropping the series on the road earlier this year.
• The Bobcats have won nine out of the last 10 and 12 out of the last 14 games.
• The 39 wins this season ranks fourth all-time at Texas State.

 
NEXT UP
Texas State will play UL Lafayette in the SBC Championship game at 1 p.m. at Jaguar Field Saturday afternoon. Live stats will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com and a live broadcast of the game will be on ESPN3. The winner of the game will receive the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.