SAN MARCOS, TX — A constant 20 mile per hour wind wreaked havoc during the early portion of Texas State's 4-1 loss to App State on Sunday morning that forced the Bobcats to play from behind all game.
App State's Baylee Morton broke a 0-0 tie when she sent the seventh pitch of the opening at bat in the top of the second inning sailing into the high winds that carried the ball out of the yard for a solo home run. The following inning, Emma Jones did the same thing on the first pitch of her third-inning plate appearance to extend the Mountaineers' lead to 2-0.
Texas State (11-9, 1-2) attempted to respond the bottom of the third after
Hannah Earls and
Ciara Trahan, who combined for five of the Bobcats' six hits on the afternoon, recorded third-inning singles and worked themselves into scoring position. However, neither scored as a grounder off the bat of
Cat Crenek ended the inning.
Earls and Trahan tried to strike, again, two innings later with a pair of fifth-inning singles. The duo, again, found themselves in scoring position, but
Karsen Pierce, who pinch hit for
Kylie George, went down swinging to cap a seven-pitch plate appearance.
Texas State found themselves in a prime position to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, though. The Bobcats sent six batters to plate and ultimately loaded the bases following a full count walk to
Caitlyn Rogers that followed three straight fielder's choices. But
Dani Elder, who was summoned off the bench to pinch hit for Earls, sent a rope into right field that was caught for the inning's final out.
Jones, again, pushed the App State (13-8, 2-1) lead out when she doubled home Kati Walk and Addison Jones with one out in the top of the sixth.
Needing four runs to keep the game going,
Piper Randolph led off the bottom of the seventh by earning a five-pitch walk to proceed Trahan's third hit on the game. Both Randolph and Trahan advanced a base on a groundout from George. Crenek's sacrifice fly plated Randolph to cut the deficit.
However,
Claire Ginder, who rounded out the trio of Bobcats with a base hit on the day, was thrown out — trying to beat out a throw from Jones at shortstop — to end the game.
"I thought we got outplayed, out momentumed, out everything today," said Texas State softball head coach
Ricci Woodard. "From pitching to hitting to defense, (App State) wanted this game in a different approach than we did."
Texas State will continue its home stand on Tuesday, March 15, when the Bobcats play host to UTSA at 2 p.m. CT.
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