MONROE, LA. — It all came together for the Texas State softball program during the top of the fourth inning of the Bobcats' 4-1 win over ULM on Sunday afternoon.
Piper Randolph, who pinch hit for
Kylie George to start the frame, hit the first pitch she saw to third base for Texas State's first hit of the game. The sophomore moved into scoring position as a result of
Ciara Trahan's plate appearance, then advanced to third when
Cat Crenek hit an infield single. Crenek stole second during a four-pitch walk to
Claire Ginder to load the bases.
Facing an 0-2 count, first-year Bobcat
Anna Jones sent the next pitch to centerfield for a bases-clearing, one-out double to give Texas State a 3-1 lead. Jones moved over to third base when
Caitlyn Rogers followed with the team's fifth hit of the inning. But Jones was stranded on third following back-to-back outs.
"We've been talking about key hits for a few weeks, and we finally got one today," said Texas State softball head coach
Ricci Woodard. "It was a great job by Anna just driving the ball in that situation."
Two innings later, Texas State added an insurance run after Crenek, who hit a 1-2 pitch back up the middle for a one-out single and her hit on the day, worked her way to second then third and ultimately scored on a two-out fielding error off the bat of Jones.
After allowing a first-inning run,
Jessica Mullins (14-11) settled down in the circle and did not allow another Warhawk baserunner to advance past second base over the remainder of the game's six innings.
Once Texas State took the lead in the top of the fourth inning, Mullins went on to record five strikeouts — at least one in every inning, including a pair in the bottom of the sixth — of her nine punch outs on the afternoon. In 13 innings pitched against ULM over the weekend, Mullins struck out 19 batters and issued only three walks. The strikeout total was the most by the sophomore right-hander throughout a conference weekend since recording 21 in 14.0 innings at South Alabama (3/18, 3/20).
With the conference series now in the past, Texas State (21-17, 7-8) won't wait long to return to the softball field as the Bobcats will travel two hours up I-35 to Waco to play Baylor on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The two teams met earlier this season with the Bears winning, 3-0, on Wednesday, March 16 in San Marcos. However, Texas State won the last game in Waco, 7-5, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
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