Softball | 2/22/2018 9:00:00 AM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State University softball team (6-4), fresh off of a 4-1 weekend in Tempe, Ariz. will head east to compete in the FAU 'Strike Out Cancer' Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla. this weekend. The Tournament will feature a pair of Ivy League schools, Columbia and Dartmouth, as well as Tulsa and the host school, Florida Atlantic.

Last Time Out for the Bobcats
• Texas State's bats came alive in the Littlewood Classic, plating 29 runs in five games in Tempe. The Bobcats took four of the five games, including a pair of wins over North Dakota and victories over Illinois State and San Diego.   
• TXST grounded the Redbirds of Illinois State in game one, 2-1, on the strength of an excellent outing from senior pitcher Randi Rupp. She went seven strong innings, allowing just one hit and one run while fanning 13 batters.
• Games two and three featured routs of North Dakota, each win coming in six innings via the run rule. In the first matchup, an 11-2 Bobcat win, Krista Jacobs earned the win after pitching 4.2 innings in relief. Ariel Ortiz highlighted the offense, going 3-for-3 at the dish while smashing two home runs and a double. Ortiz drove in five of Texas State's 11 runs. Hailey MacKay and Haleigh Davis each homered as well for the Bobcats.
• McKenna Fryar earned her first collegiate win in the second matchup with the Fighting Hawks, pitching five relief innings in TXST's 11-3 win. The bulk of the offensive damage was done at the top of the lineup as Bailee Carter and Brianna Sannem combined to reach base in all eight plate appearances, including seven hits and one walk. Each player batted in a run, while Carter scored three times and Sannem was plated twice.
• Game four saw the Bobcats lose a heartbreaker to host Arizona State, 4-3 in eight innings. The Sun Devils walked it off in the bottom of the eighth, snapping Texas State's three-game winning streak.
• Rupp guided the Cats back into the win column, spinning another gem against San Diego. She scattered four hits through seven innings of one-run softball. Rupp sat down 10 Toreros via the strikeout.

Texas State in the FAU 'Strike Out Cancer' Tournament
• Texas State will look to keep the bats hot in Boca Raton, Fla. this weekend with five games coming against Columbia, Dartmouth, Florida Atlantic and Tulsa. The Owls of FAU will host the tournament.

Inside the Series
•Texas State opens the weekend with a pair of games on Friday, including a 2:45 p.m. matchup with Columbia. For the Lions, the game will represent their season-opener. TXST will also close out the tournament with an 8 a.m. game against Columbia. The Bobcats and Lions have never met on the softball diamond.
• Friday's second game will see the Bobcats take on the host Owls at 5 p.m. As is the case with Columbia, this will be the first softball game between the two schools.
• In the third game of the tournament, the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa. The Bobcats lead the all-time series between the two teams, taking five of eight contests. First pitch is slated for 8 a.m. on Saturday.
• In Saturday's second game, the Bobcats will square off with another Ivy League foe in Dartmouth, the third opponent of the tournament that Texas State has yet to face in softball. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m.

Hailey MacKay Earns Player of the Week Accolades
• The Sun Belt Conference announced that Hailey MacKay earned player of the week accolades earlier this week for her tremendous performance at Arizona State.
• In 16 official at-bats, the sophomore registered 10 hits, walked four times and did not record a strikeout. At the Littlewood Classic, MacKay hit .571 (8-of-14), drove in four runners and scored a trio of runs.
In four of the six games played, MacKay notched multiple hits, including a season best three-hit game against the Sun Devils. She went 3-for-4 with a solo home run against No. 18 Arizona State. She safely reached base in each of the last six outings.

Randi Rupp and Ariel Ortiz Named Preseason All-Sun Belt
• Texas State senior right-handed pitcher Randi Rupp was named Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference and the Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Senior shortstop Ariel Ortiz also earned a Preseason All-Conference Team nod and was honored with Preseason Player of the Year distinctions.
• Rupp, who earned her third consecutive Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year accolade, is a three-time first team All-Sun Belt Conference honoree, a two-time second team NFCA All-Central Region selection and was named second-team All-American by the NFCA in 2017. Rupp has amassed 953 strikeouts in 779 career innings pitched. She earned a decision in 38 of 39 starts a season ago, ending with a record of 28-10. Rupp struck out 325 batters in 264.1 innings in the circle, compared to only 56 walks. She yielded 46 earned runs, giving her a career-low 1.22 ERA for the season.
• Heading into her senior season, Rupp ranks in the top five in every career pitching stat at Texas State. She is second in both wins (82) and strikeouts (953), third in innings pitched (779), ERA (1.84), and shutouts (33) and is fourth in appearances (140) and complete games (75). She has two of Texas State's 15 no-hitters and spun one of the three perfect games in program history.
• Ortiz earned first team All-Sun Belt recognition a year ago after batting a team-best .343 with 47 RBI and 34 runs scored. Ortiz started at shortstop in each of TXST's 59 games in 2017. She set the new team record, smashing 15 home runs during her junior campaign and topped the career home run list with 33 career homers. Ortiz also led the Bobcats in hits (62), doubles (16), total bases (127), slugging percentage (.702) and assists (102).
• On top of the being the leader in career home runs, Ortiz also is top-10 in school history in career RBIs, doubles, runs scored and walks drawn.

Click here to view the tournament central page.

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