Softball | 5/4/2017 10:29:00 AM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State concludes its 2017 regular season schedule with a three-game series Friday and Saturday (May 5-6) at Sun Belt rival UTA. The Bobcats and Mavericks are scheduled for a 4 p.m. / 6 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and a single game Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Maverick's Allan Saxe Field.
 
RV/RV TEXAS STATE at UTA
FRIDAY, MAY 5
4:00 p.m. – DH Game 1
      WATCH: utamavs.com
      LIVE STATS: utamavs.com
6:00 p.m. – DH Game 2
      WATCH: utamavs.com
      LIVE STATS: utamavs.com
SATURDAY, MAY 6
1:00 p.m.
      WATCH: utamavs.com
      LIVE STATS: utamavs.com
  • Texas State closes out its regular season Friday and Saturday with a three-game series at Sun Belt rival UTA.
  Inside the Series
• UTA leads the all-time series against the Bobcats 59-58. The Bobcats are 28-20 against UTA in San Marcos, 25-35 in Arlington and 5-4 in neutral site games.
• The Bobcats have won six straight against the Mavericks, earning series sweeps in both 2015 and 2016. TXST has not lost a regular season game to UTA since the programs joined the Sun Belt in 2014.
• UTA's last series win came at the 2014 Sun Belt Championship in Lafayette, La., by a 5-1 final.
  • Texas State closed its home schedule with a three-game sweep of Troy (12-0 [5 inn.], 4-3, 3-0). The Sun Belt series win was the sixth by the Bobcats this season and fourth via sweep.
• Randi Rupp highlighted the Bobcats' efforts, totaling two wins and 22 strikeouts against the Trojans, including a career-high 15 in Sunday's game three win.
• The Bobcats totaled 18 hits in the series with 11 going for extra bases. Five balls left the yard with Taylor Webb and Ariel Ortiz each hitting two homers and Corinna Liscano one.
  • Junior Randi Rupp struck out 15 of the 24 she faced in a one-hit, complete-game shutout of Troy on April 30. Her 15th strikeout ended the game.
• Not only were the 15 strikeouts a career-high for Rupp, but she also eclipsed the 900 career strikeout plateau when she fanned the side in the fifth. She joins TXST all-time career strikeout leader Nicole Neuerburg (1,019) as the only Bobcats in program history with 900-plus strikeouts.
• Rupp struck out the side in the first, third and fifth innings, while striking out two in the fourth and seventh innings and one each in the second and sixth.
  • Randi Rupp was named the Sun Belt Conference Community Coffee Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 30, the league office announced Tuesday. The plaudit is Rupp league-leading fourth this season and ninth of her career.
• Rupp was masterful in the circle in leading the Bobcats to an unbeaten week with a midweek victory over I-35 rival UTSA and a series sweep of Sun Belt foe Troy. She pitched in three of Texas State's four games, going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a .086 opponent batting average, while scattering five hits and issuing just two walks in her 17.2 innings of work. She set a career-best with 15 strikeouts in Sunday's win over Troy, surpassing 900 career strikeouts in the process.
• The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native started the week with a 5.2 inning, 11-strikeout performance against UTSA. She allowed only two hits and issued a single walk. Rupp opened the Troy series with a seven-strikeout, complete-game shutout in five innings. She scattered two hits and only allowed one runner to reach third base. In game three she posted a 15-strikeout, one-hit complete-game shutout after taking a no-hitter into the sixth. Her 12th strikeout of the game was the 900th of her career.
  • Due to numerous Sun Belt Conference games being canceled due to inclement weather, this season's regular season champion and Sun Belt Championship seedings will be determined based on league winning percentage.
• Louisiana has clinched the Sun Belt regular season championship and holds a .952 winning percentage. Texas State is second with a .739 winning percentage, followed by Georgia State (.625) and South Alabama (.520).
• The top two teams in the final standings receive a double-bye in the tournament, while seeds three and four receive a single bye. Teams seeded fifth through eighth will open the tournament with single elimination games.
Bobcat Scenarios
• Texas State needs to win one game against UTA to secure the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Championship.
  • Texas State came in 30th in the NCAA's sixth RPI release on Monday, May 1, marking the second highest RPI in the Sun Belt Conference (Louisiana is tops with an RPI of 19).
• The Bobcats have played the 42nd-toughest schedule in the nation as TXST opponents have a combined win percentage of .566.
  • In the week 12 editions of the national polls, Texas State received 13 votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and nine votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll.
• The Bobcats have received votes in six different weeks this season, marking the first time the program received top 25 votes since week 10 of the 2004 season.
  • Texas State has played 13 games against teams from the Lone Star State, posting a 11-2 record. So far in 2017 the Bobcats' have defeated Abilene Christian, Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word (twice), UTSA (twice), Texas (twice), Houston and Baylor with three games against UTA still to play. The only two losses suffered by the Bobcats to Texas institutions came in the season opener against Abilene Christian (Feb. 10) and at No. 5 Texas A&M (March 29).
  • The Bobcats finished their home schedule with a 17-5 record at Bobcat Softball Stadium. TXST hit a combined .268 with 20 home runs and 102 runs scored in the 22 games. The pitching staff posted a 1.68 ERA with 155 total strikeouts and limited opposing hitters to a .209 clip. • 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).
 
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