ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas State softball team (28-23, 16-10 Sun Belt) closed out the 2019 regular season with an 8-7 walk-off loss against the UT Arlington Mavericks (29-24, 17-10 Sun Belt) on Saturday afternoon at Allan Saxe Field.

KEY MOMENTS
- Sophomore infielder ArieAnn Bell broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third inning with a two-out, two-run home run off the scoreboard in the top of the third inning.
- UT Arlington answered the two-run third with a run in the bottom of the third. Senior outfielder Laura Curry secured the RBI hit with a sharply hit grounder down the third base line to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Bobcats.
- In the top of the fourth inning, sophomore infielder Tara Oltmann doubled the Bobcat score with a two-run shot to deep center. The round-tripper marked the fifth of her second season in the Maroon and Gold. Junior infielder Bailee Carter tacked on a third run in the inning with a sacrifice fly to deep right.
- Once again, the Mavericks were up to the task and responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore designated player KJ Wright led off the inning with a solo home run and junior infielder Whitney Walton also came through with an RBI hit in the frame.
- Senior outfielder Kennedy Cline gained a run back for the Bobcats with a sacrifice fly to deep right field in the top of the fifth. Freshman catcher Cat Crenek added the seventh Bobcat run with a sacrifice fly to foul territory in left field to bring the score to 7-3 through the visiting half of the seventh inning.
- UT Arlington scored five runs on six hits to walk-off the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh inning.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Texas State set a season-high with 14 hits in the ballgame, which surpassed the previous high set against Texas Southern (13) on March 1. Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup secured at least one hit.
- Four Bobcats found base at least two times via hit: junior outfielder Christiana McDowell, junior infielder Hailey MacKay, freshman designated player Samara Lagway, and Oltmann.
- The Bobcats flooded the base paths all afternoon. TXST successfully put the leadoff batter on base in three innings, hit 8-for-15 (.533) with runners on, and went 5-for-8 (.625) with runners in scoring position.
- Senior pitcher Krista Jacobs (2-6) was credited with the loss after working 2.1 innings. She started the game and tossed the first 2.1 innings before returning to attempt to close out the game. She yielded four hits and one earned run.

NOTABLES
- The Texas State loss drops the Bobcats into the fourth seed in the upcoming 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship. TXST will await the winner of No. 5 Appalachian State and No. 8 ULM in the second round of the tournament.
- The home run from Bell in the top of the third inning was her team-best ninth of the season. She ranks tied for 11th in the single-season record book at Texas State in homers.
- Oltmann joined the exclusive 40-RBI club in the Texas State record books. She became the seventh player in program history to record 40-plus RBI in a single season at Texas State and the first since Ariel Ortiz swatted in 47 runs during the 2017 season.
- Junior infielder Hailey MacKay picked up her 40th hit of the season with a single through the left side of the infield in the top of the second inning. She is one of three TXST hitters with at least 40 hits this season.

ON DECK
- Texas State will take on either No. 5 Appalachian State or No. 8 ULM in the second round of the conference tournament at 3 p.m. on May 8 at Bobcat Softball Stadium.

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