HUNTSVILLE, TX — As the old saying goes, don't issue leadoff walks as they come back to hurt. Well, in the three innings the Texas State softball program scored in its 7-4 win at Sam Houston Thursday afternoon, two started with walks to the first batter of the frame.
By the end of the top of the seventh, every student-athlete in the Texas State (20-15) lineup had at least one walk and the quintet of
Ciara Trahan,
Sara Vanderford,
Anna Jones,
Caitlyn Rogers and
Cat Crenek all had two each as the Bobcats earned a season-high 14 walks on the day, the most by a Texas State starting lineup in a single game over the last 10 seasons.
"Good plate discipline is always a bonus, but we still need to do a better job with runners in scoring position," said Texas State softball head coach
Ricci Woodard.
By the time Texas State broke into the run column late in the top of the second inning, the Bobcats had already earned six walks in the game, including a stretch of four straight from
Samara Lagway,
Piper Randolph,
Hannah Earls and
Ciara Trahan with Trahan's coming with the bases loaded.
Jones started a second streak of three-straight Bobcats drawing a walk when she opened the top of the third on a five-pitch walk. Rogers and Crenek followed to load the bases for
Claire Ginder, who responded by sending a 1-1 pitch to right field for a run-scoring single. After back-to-back fielder choice's, Ginder extended the Bobcats' lead to 3-0 when she scored from third on a fielding error off the bat of Earls.
Kaitlyn Dutton, who made her collegiate debut Thursday afternoon, replaced
Presley Glende, who started the game and went on to match her career high — for the fourth time this season — with 4.0 innings pitched, one batter into the bottom of the fifth. A fielding error and a sacrifice fly allowed two unearned runs to score for Sam Houston throughout the inning.
The Bobcats responded by plating four runs on three hits and one Bearkat error in the top of the sixth, an inning highlighted by a two-run single to centerfield off the bat of
Cat Crenek. Ginder followed with a four-pitch walk to re-load the bases and allowed Lagway an opportunity to send a 2-2 pitch through the left side for a run-scoring hit.
Piper Randolph followed by scoring Crenek from third on a fielder's choice.
Sam Houston (10-28) attempted a seventh-inning comeback as four of the first five Bearkats reached base, before the duo of Rogers, who moved from designated player to catcher, and
Karsen Pierce took the field and set down the next two batters to push the Bobcats' win total to 20 on the season.
Texas State will look to continue its momentum and extend its two-game winning streak when the Bobcats open a three-game Sun Belt series at ULM on Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m. CT.
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