SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team (1-1) fell short in a hotly contested game against no. 9 Florida State (2-0), 4-2, on Friday evening inside Bobcat Softball Stadium in the night-cap of a triple header in the Bobcat Classic.

"This game shows that we can play with anyone in the country," head coach Ricci Woodard said. "We hung with one of the best teams in the country, and a team that returned a lot of their hitters from a year ago. I told this team that we could play with anybody and tonight showed that to be true."

For the second straight contest, Randi Rupp received the nod as the starting pitcher for the Bobcats. The senior allowed four runs on seven hits over seven innings of work. Rupp took the loss for the team, knocking her record to 1-1 on the season. She struck out five Seminole batters, but struggled at times to keep the ball at or below the knees. Florida State pounced on her mistakes, especially during a three-run fifth inning.

The Seminoles started the scoring, striking in the second inning. Dani Morgan tripled to right center to lead off the inning. The next batter, Anna Shelnutt, skied a fly ball into the outfield, easily scoring Morgan. Rupp walked the next FSU batter, Zoe Casas. The walk was quickly nullified as Haleigh Davis cut Casas down attempting to swipe second.

FSU's lead was short lived. Sophomore Hailey MacKay came to the plate in the bottom of the second with nobody on and one away in the frame. She belted a home run over the left field fence, knotting the score at one each. MacKay would find gold again, towering another long drive over the left field fence in the bottom of the fourth inning. Her second solo shot of the day gave TXST the lead, 2-1.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the lead was coughed up in the top of the next frame. Korina Rosario, the Noles ninth hitter, started the inning off with a single. She was waved in for the tying run on triple off the bat of Morgan Klaevemann. She would score the go-ahead run on Jessie Warren's sacrifice fly just one batter later. FSU was able to tack on one more insurance run in the inning, stretching the lead to 4-2.

Over the last two innings of play, the home team brought seven batters to the plate, only one reached base. Bailee Carter drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to advance.

Offensively, Texas State was led by MacKay's two homer day. She finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with both of TXST's RBIs. The only other hits by the Bobcats came via bunt singles from Mari Cranek and Kennedy Cline. Cranek's hit was the first of her Texas State career.

The Bobcats will continue the Bobcat Classic early tomorrow morning with a double-header. Texas State will matchup with Sam Houston State for the second time this season. The Bobcats beat the Bearkats on Feb. 8 by a score of 3-0. First pitch is slated for 10 a.m. In the second game, TXST will get another crack at No. 9 Florida State at approximately 12:30 p.m.

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