SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team (39-13, 18-5 SBC) topped the UT Arlington Mavericks (26-24, 14-12 SBC) by a score of 4-1 on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The victory clinched the 2018 Sun Belt Conference regular season title for the Bobcats, the program's seventh regular season championship.

The offense struck quickly, scoring three of the team's four runs in the first two innings of play. Brianna Sannem opened the home half of the first inning with an infield single to shortstop before being cut down on the bases on an attempted steal. Senior Jaclyn Molenaar drew a four-pitch walk and promptly stole second base. The UTA throw down to second clipped Molenaar, forcing her to exit the game as Kennedy Cline entered in her place. Cline raced around third and slid home to score the game's first run on an RBI single from Texas State's all-time leader in career RBI, senior Ariel Ortiz.

Texas State added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Bailee Carter hit a leadoff double off the top of the wall in right field and advanced to third on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from Haleigh Davis. The next batter, Mari Cranek, looped a sacrifice fly into left field to score Carter from third. After a pair of singles from Christiana McDowell and Sannem, the Bobcats had runners on first and second with two outs in the frame. Cline laced a hard hit ball through the middle of the infield, plating McDowell from second base.

The Bobcats tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning to help ensure the victory. Hailey MacKay snuck a double down the left field line to lead off the inning. She was lifted for a pinch runner, senior Sierra Steimel. Ortiz laid down a bunt to move Steimel to third base. Carter scored Steimel on a sacrifice fly to left to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead after five complete innings.

Randi Rupp earned win No. 25 on the season and No. 107 in her career, matching her with Nicole Neuerburg (2001-04) for most wins by a Bobcat pitcher in program history. The senior tossed a complete game, her 26th of the season, allowed four hits, one earned run and one walk while striking out four UTA batters. Just before the final out of the game, head coach Ricci Woodard inserted Sara Rupp into the contest to catch. The senior caught the final strike of the game to secure the Bobcat victory.

Under the direction of Coach Woodard, the Bobcats have won seven regular season conference championships, including a stretch of three straight from 2008-10. The last regular season conference title came in the 2012 season, back when Texas State was a member of the Southland Conference. The 2018 championship marks the first Sun Belt Conference title the Bobcat softball program has won.

Next up, Texas State will compete in the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship. After earning the No. 1 seed throughout the regular season, the Bobcats will open the tournament on Thursday. The top-seeded Bobcats will play the winner of quarterfinal one at 10 a.m. The tournament will be contested at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La. Tickets for the event go on sale starting on Monday, May 7 and can be purchased here.

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Senior pitcher Randi Rupp was named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award on April 5, 2018. She was selected as one of 10 finalists who were chosen by national media from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier this month. Nationwide fan voting has begun to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through May 14. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipient for softball will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Women's College World Series® in Oklahoma City, May 31 through June 6.