BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Texas State softball team (10-4) made it five straight wins, taking a pair of victories on day two of Florida Atlantic's "Strike Out Cancer" Tournament at FAU Softball Stadium in southeast Florida. In game one, the Bobcats stymied Tulsa (5-7), 6-1. In game two, TXST surged late to top Dartmouth (0-3) by a score of 3-0.

"Today was a day of two very different games," head coach Ricci Woodard said. "Our bats game alive in the first game against Tulsa. We capitalized early and gave Randi some breathing room. In the second game, the Dartmouth pitcher did a good job of executing her game plan, which kept us at bay. But, there is a reason Ariel Ortiz holds the career RBI record, and she came up big. McKenna Fryar did a good job to keep us in the ball game."

GAME 1
TEXAS STATE 6, TULSA 1

Texas State was led by a dominant performance in the circle from Randi Rupp. The senior faced just 22 batters over seven innings of work, striking out nine Golden Hurricane batters without surrendering a walk. The right-hander allowed a leadoff hit to start the game, but quickly worked around the hit by way of a lineout double play to third. She coughed up her only earned run of the game in the second inning when she gave up a solo home run to the first batter she faced in the frame. Rupp responded by sitting down the final 18 batters of the game in order. She has pitched complete games in all nine of her starts and has posted a record of 6-3.

The Bobcat bats were clicking from the opening pitch as the first three Texas State hitters reached in the bottom half of the first inning. Sierra Steimel, who has settled in nicely to the leadoff role, drew a walk. Christiana McDowell singled into right field, advancing Steimel to second base. In the three spot, Hailey MacKay crushed a three-run home run, her second in as many games, to clear the bases.

In the third inning, the Cats struck again. Tara Oltmann singled to score Ariel Ortiz from second before being thrown out at second attempting to advance on the throw. After the next three batters in the inning reached base for Texas State, Jaclyn Molenaar delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Mari Cranek. The Bobcats ended the third inning up four runs.

With Rupp dealing deep into the game, Ortiz provided another highlight for the Bobcats. The senior stepped to the plate with Brianna Sannem standing on second base and knocked a single into center field. Sannem scored on the play, giving Ortiz a school-record 138 career RBIs. The previous recorder, Elizabeth Wissel, played for the Maroon and Gold from 1998-01.

GAME 2
TEXAS STATE 3, DARTMOUTH 0

In a pitcher's duel, the Bobcats used a late rally to earn win no. 10 on the season. Texas State was hitless through the first five innings of the game before finally securing a baserunner by way of a hit. Christiana McDowell beat out an infield hit to shortstop for the first Bobcat hit, reaching base with one away in the sixth frame. Ariel Ortiz doubled to left field to score McDowell.

An inning later, Bailee Carter led off the frame with a single to third base. She scored the second run of the game on an RBI double from Haleigh Davis. The sophomore catcher sprinted home to score on an ArieAnn Bell pinch-hit RBI single through the right side of the infield. The late rally gave TXST a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

McKenna Fryar started in the circle for Texas State. The freshman went 4.2 innings, allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out six Big Green batters. Fryar did not allow a run. She was lifted in with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Randi Rupp entered the game with runners on first and second and retired the last batter of the frame via a lazy fly ball to left field. Rupp completed the shutout to earn her second win of the day and seventh of the season.

The Bobcats will be back in action tomorrow to close out the FAU 'Strike Out Cancer' Tournament. Texas State will square off with Columbia in a rematch of the 6-2 win for Texas State. Scheduled first pitch is 8 a.m. CDT.

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