SAN MARCOS, TX — For the last two seasons, there have been two student-athletes near the top of multiple pitching statistical categories within the Sun Belt Conference: Texas State's
Jessica Mullins and Troy's Leanna Johnson.
This weekend will provide fans inside Bobcat Stadium an opportunity to see the duo in the pitching circle as Texas State (29-17, 13-8) plays host to Troy (27-15, 13-8) for the first time since the final weekend in April during the 2019 season.
The three-game conference series will open on Friday, April 29 at 6 p.m. CT., then the two teams will tangle on Saturday, April 30 at 2 p.m. CT. The series will conclude on Sunday, May 1 at 12 p.m. CT with the Bobcats honoring their six senior student-athletes —
Cat Crenek,
Kylie George,
Dani Elder,
Caitlyn Rogers,
Brooke Blackwell and
Samara Lagway — following the contest.
Mullins (20-11) will enter the critical weekend series as the Sun Belt's leader in wins (20), games started (29) and innings pitched (179.2). In league action, she's leading the conference in wins (13), games started (16), innings pitched (103.0), strikeouts (116) and strikeouts looking (35). She's also been named the Sun Belt Conference's Pitcher of the Week the last two weeks.
With one more strikeout, Mullins, a sophomore, will become the first Bobcat student-athlete to register 200-or-more strikeouts in a single season since Randi Rupp fanned 317 batters throughout the 2018 season. The Tarkington native also needs just 15 more strikeouts to pass Anne Marie Taylor (2010-13) for sixth on the program's career strikeout list. A single win over the Trojans this weekend would push Mullins pass Taylor for eighth place on the program's career wins list, while three wins would propel her pass former teammate
Meagan King (2018-21) for seventh place.
Mullins and Johnson, a junior, squared off against each other for the very first time on Friday, April 30, 2021, when the Bobcats scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to beat Johnson and the Trojans, 4-3. Mullins struck out eight Troy batters and allowed just three hits in 6.1 innings of work, while Johnson allowed four runs on five hits in seven innings.
The two both returned to the pitching circle two days later with Troy scoring three unearned runs in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 3-3. Johnson also allowed an unearned run in her 2.2 innings in the circle when
Molly Damiani scored on a throwing error to push the Bobcats ahead, 4-3, in the top of the third.
This weekend will be Johnson's first game inside Bobcat Stadium since Troy's last trip to San Marcos during the 2019 season. The Brantley, Ala., native is 1-1 against the Bobcats in San Marcos. She's surrendered eight hits, allowed two runs, issued five walks and struck out six.
In her two seasons as a Texas State Bobcat, Mullins is 21-6 with a 1.47 ERA and 158 strikeouts in games played inside Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos.
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