MOBILE, Ala. — In a softball game billed as a 'Battle of Two Titians' within the Sun Belt Conference, the top-seeded Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns outlasted the third-seeded Texas State Bobcats, 1-0, in an eight-inning affair.
The contest was Texas State's second consecutive extra-inning game in less 20 hours after besting South Alabama, 4-2, in nine innings on Thursday afternoon.
"That was another great ballgame and, like I said yesterday, unfortunately, someone had to lose those games," said Texas State softball head coach
Ricci Woodard. "When you have a pitchers' battle like that, you can't afford to miss a pitch like that to (Raina) O'Neal, obviously, but other than that, I thought (Jessica) Mullins threw a great game and gave us a chance to win, we just couldn't come through with that key at bat."
After
Jessica Mullins (27-12) set down No. 25 Louisiana (44-11) in order to open the game, Texas State (37-18) had a golden opportunity to take an early lead after
Hannah Earls and
Ciara Trahan both reached on fielding errors. But a popup from
Sara Vanderford, Trahan being erased on a fielder's hoice and
Caitlyn Rogers grounding out ended the threat.
Louisiana attempted its own early inning rally the following frame after the two first batters reached base. A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, but Mullins induced a flyout to Trahan in left and then a grounder to herself to end the inning.
From there, Mullins and Megahn Schorman (15-4) combined to keep both opposing offenses out of the run column for the game's next five innings.
Then, on the first pitch of the top of the eighth inning, O'Neal put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead with a solo home run. Twelve pitches later, though, Mullins finished off the Louisiana lineup without any more damage.
In the bottom of the eighth,
Sara Vanderford connected on a 1-0 pitch for a one-out single to right-centerfield, marking the fourth consecutive inning and five of the last six with a baserunner for the Bobcats.
However, back-to-back flyouts to left field kept Vanderford at first and ended the game.
Texas State will return to action on Saturday, May 14 at 11 a.m. CT, when the Bobcats play the winner of a Friday evening elimination game. A win Saturday morning would send Texas State into the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship game against No. 1 Louisiana at 2:30 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW US
For the latest information on the team, follow @TXStateSoftball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be at @TxStateBobcats on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
