Softball | 3/7/2017 1:55:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State softball returns to the friendly confines of Bobcat Softball Stadium for the first time in nearly a month at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening to host Incarnate Word. The Bobcats, who went 4-1 last week, including a win over Texas, are 13-4 on the season.
 
TEXAS STATE VS INCARNATE WORD
WEDNESAY, MARCH 8
6:00 p.m. (CT)
      WATCH: txstatebobcats.com
      LISTEN:  KTSW.net
      LIVE STATS:  txstatebobcats.com

  • Texas State plays its first home game of the season not associated with a tournament on Wednesday against Southland Conference-member Incarnate Word.
  Inside the Series
• The Bobcats and Cardinals will meet for the second time this season and 12th time in the history of the two programs on Wednesday with the series led 8-3 by TXST.
• TXST is 3-2 all-time against the Cardinals in San Marcos, 4-1 at the Cardinal's home field and 1-0 at a neutral site.
• The teams met less than two weeks ago on Feb. 25 at the UTSA Classic with the Bobcats winning 6-0. Jaelyn Young led TXST at the plate with a 2-for-3 day, which included a home run and a double. Jodi Paige Williams, Quincy Charleston and Krista Jacobs combined for a three-hit shutout.
  • RHP Randi Rupp has started the 2017 season picking up where she left off in 2016. The junior, who finished last year with 335 strikeouts, started 2017 with an 11-strikeout performance against Abilene Christian.
• Since then she has struck out an additional 74 batters for a total of 85 through 11 outings.
• She collected her 700th career strikeout with her second K of the first inning against College of Charleston on March 3. She is just the fourth Bobcat in program history to record 700 career strikeouts.
• Through 60.2 innings of work, Rupp owns a 1.38 ERA and has struck out 85 of the 251 batters she has faced. Opponents are hitting .184 off the right hander with only 10 extra base knocks.
  • Texas State hitters Jaelyn Young, Ariel Ortiz, Taylor Webb and Christiana McDowell have combined for 16 home runs in the season's first 17 games (TXST hit 32 all of last year). Young leads the Bobcats charge with six homers, while Ortiz has five and Webb four. McDowell joined the group with her first collegiate round-tripper in the Bobcats' 3-2 win over Liberty on March 4 at the Wilson/DeMarini Classic in Auburn, Ala.
• The Bobcats 16 home runs are tied for second with Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt behind Louisiana's 33.
• Individually, Young's six round-trippers are tied for third in the league and are double the amount she hit a season ago.
  • Texas State went 4-1 at the 2017 Wilson/DeMarini Classic (March 3-4) in Auburn, Ala. The Bobcats opened the event with a 11-3 win over College of Charleston, then picked up consecutive close wins over Liberty (3-1, 3-2) before following to No. 2 Auburn 8-1.
• Christiana McDowell posted a team-high .364 batting average at the event, going 4-for-11 with her first career home run.
  • For all of the latest news and information on Bobcat softball, visit TXSTATEBOBCATS.com. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TXStateSoftball along on Twitter (@TXStateSoftball) and Instagram (@TXStateSoftball).