SAN MARCOS, TX — Since the first ever meeting between the Baylor and Texas State's softball programs during the 1985 season, the two have gone on to play 59 more games with the Bears winning the most recent contest, 3-0, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
But Tuesday night's game in Waco will mark just the second-ever meeting between the Bobcats and Bears on April 12. Five years ago, then-junior right-handed pitcher Randi Rupp limited Baylor to just three hits in a seven-inning complete game shutout as Texas State won, 1-0. It was Rupp's 20th win of a 28-win season and the first one-run win by either team in the series since Texas State won, 1-0, on Feb. 25, 2012.
Texas State earned the one-run victory, five years ago, in walk-off fashion as Christiana McDowell plated Kennedy Cline from third — after the Bobcats loaded the bases with only one out — on a grounder to Baylor second baseman Ari Hawkins.
Texas State (21-17, 7-8) will be traveling up I-35 on the heels of a stellar pitching performance from
Jessica Mullins, who picked up her 14th win on the season when the Bobcats knocked off ULM, 4-1, on Sunday, April 10. The performance was part of a two-start week for Mullins (14-11) last week that saw the sophomore strikeout 19 batters and issue only three walks in 13.0 innings pitched.
INSIDE THE SERIES: Baylor
Texas State and Baylor have split the last six softball games played in Waco with the Bobcats winning the last meeting, 7-5, on April 14, 2021. Texas State is looking for back-to-back wins in road game against Baylor since winning 5-2 and 2-0 on March 25, 2008 and April 7, 2009, respectively.
Under head coach
Ricci Woodard, the Texas State softball program is 11-19 against Baylor, including an earlier matchup between the two on Wednesday, March 16.
Dating back to the one-run Texas State win five years ago, Texas State and Baylor have split the last six games in the series. The Bobcats won in 2017 and 2018, before the Bears took the contests in 2019 and 2020. The two teams have alternated wins in the last two meetings with the road team winning in 2021 (Texas State) and 2022 (Baylor) heading into Tuesday night's matchup.
During last year's meeting in Waco, Texas State ran out to a four-run lead following run-scoring hits from
Piper Randolph and
Kylie George to proceed a
Hailey MacKay solo home run. The Bears battled back with a four-spot in the bottom of the third, before
Sara Vanderford hit a solo home run the following inning. A wild pitch extended the Bobcat lead to two, before the Bears cut it to one in the bottom of the fifth.
Tara Oltmann put the feather in the cap with a solo home run in the top of the sixth.
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