Texas State Prepares for SBC Championship

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team (39-13, 18-5 SBC) enters the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship as the No. 1 overall seed. The Bobcats earned a double-bye and will play at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The top-seeded Cats will await No. 5 Troy. The tournament will be contested at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La., and the bracket can be viewed here. Tickets can be purchased here.

Sun Belt All-Conference Teams Announced
• Just two days after clinching the 2018 Sun Belt regular season title, five members of the Texas State softball team were honored with postseason awards by the conference.
• Randi Rupp earned her fourth consecutive nod as a Frist-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, becoming the first softball player in program history to earn four first team all-conference honors. Rupp was also named the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season.
• Head coach Ricci Woodard was announced the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year following the program's first outright Sun Belt regular season championship in softball. Woodard was named coach of the year four times in the Southland Conference.
• Ariel Ortiz was named to the first team at shortstop, her third first-team nod in four seasons. She also garnered first team honors in 2015 and 2017. The senior posted the team's second highest batting average (.333) while driving in 36 RBI.
• Hailey MacKay was the third and final Bobcat to be named to the first team. In her first season at Texas State, the sophomore led the Bobcats in 10 offensive categories, including: batting average (.364), RBI (37) and home runs (11).
• Haleigh Davis was named to the second team by the Sun Belt Conference. She boasted the third highest batting average on the team, hitting .328 on the season (41-of-125). Defensively, the sophomore was dynamic, cutting down 14-of-31 attempted steals.
• Texas State has placed four players on the all-conference teams in three of the last five seasons, including four first teamers in 2015 and four second team selections in 2014.

Sixth Sense
• Texas State has owned the sixth inning this season, outscoring opponents 44-11. The run differential of +33 is TXST's largest of any inning.
• On 10 occasions this season, the Bobcats have delivered the game winning run in the sixth inning. The first game in the season opener against Sam Houston State. All three Bobcat runs scored in the bottom of the sixth inning on an error from the Bearkats.
• The Bobcats downed the No. 12 Baylor Bears in the sixth inning on RBI hits from Hailey MacKay, Ariel Ortiz and Tara Oltmann back on March 14.
• MacKay struck again a few days later, hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning against Coastal Carolina. The game was one of three TXST victories to end after six innings due to the Run Rule.
• In the series finale against South Alabama, the Bobcats scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth frame to complete a wild comeback win.
• Brianna Sannem came through in the bottom of the sixth inning against Texas, plating the game winning run on a sacrifice fly.

Bobcats by the Numbers
• Four - Texas State boasts a perfect 28-0 record when scoring at least four runs in a game. Conversely, TXST is 11-13 when scoring three runs or fewer.
• 23 - Texas State cracked the top-25 poll on March 20. According to the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, Texas State is the No. 23 team in the country. After slipping out of the rankings for a week (March 27), the Bobcats climbed back into the top-25 on April 3 and have been ranked as high as No. 21.
• 27 - The last 27 times in which Texas State has carried a lead into the fifth inning, the Bobcats came out on top. The team is 9-2 when the game is tied after five innings and are 3-11 when trailing in the same situation.
• 286 - Randi Rupp ranks third on the NCAA leaderboard with 286 strikeouts on the season. Rupp is on pace to reach 300 strikeouts in a season for the third consecutive season after narrowly missing the mark as a freshman. She sat down 293 batters via the strikeout in her first year on campus.

For all things Texas State softball, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Haleigh Davis: C/INF; 5' 3"; Sophomore; R/R

#2 Ariel Ortiz: INF; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#4 Randi Rupp: RHP; 5' 11"; Senior; R/R

#25 Hailey MacKay: INF; 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R

#22 Tara Oltmann: INF; 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R

#20 Brianna Sannem: OF; 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#9 Haleigh Davis
: 5' 3"; Sophomore; R/R
: C/INF

#2 Ariel Ortiz
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: INF

#4 Randi Rupp
: 5' 11"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#25 Hailey MacKay
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R
: INF

#22 Tara Oltmann
: 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#20 Brianna Sannem
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: OF