SAN MARCOS, TX — On the heels of an impressive three-game sweep of then-third place Troy over the weekend,
Jessica Mullins and
Caitlyn Rogers have been named the Sun Belt's Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.
The sweep of the conference's weekly softball honors marks the first time the Bobcats have accomplished the feat since the final week of the 2021 regular season (May 10) when
Sara Vanderford and Mullins were selected. Tuesday's recognition of Mullins and Rogers marks the third consecutive year the Bobcats have swept the league's weekly softball honors: 2020 (
ArieAnn Bell,
Dalilah Barrera; March 10); 2021 (Mullins,
Sara Vanderford; May 10), (Mullins,
Tara Oltmann; March 2)
Texas State becomes the third different team this season to sweep the conference's weekly honors after Troy did so during Week 2 and South Alabama in Week 5. With Rogers' honor, the Bobcats become the second team (Louisiana) this season to have two different student-athletes earn the league's player of the week honor.
Tuesday's honor marks the third consecutive week Mullins has been selected as the Sun Belt's Pitcher of the Week, matching Troy's Leanna Johnson (Week 1-3) for the longest consecutive streak this season.
With the honor, Mullins and Rogers become the first pitcher-catcher battery to sweep the Sun Belt's weekly softball honors since Louisiana's Summer Ellyson (Pitcher) and Julie Rawls (Player) did so on March 19, 2019.
Mullins (23-11) started all three games in the circle for Texas State against Troy over the weekend and earned the win in each appearance. The sophomore right-hander struck out 24 batters and walked only one in 20.2 innings pitched. She allowed just two extra base hits to the Trojans — both coming in the top of the sixth in the final game of the series — and limited the opposing batters to a .173 batting average. She concluded the weekend with a 1.02 ERA.
Behind the dish, Rogers helped guide Mullins to her standout weekend and kept Troy baserunners at bay as the Trojans did not attempt a stolen base against the senior. Offensively, Rogers broke up the series-opening game on Friday, April 29 with a bases-clearing double to extend the Bobcats' one-run lead to a four-run advantage. The following day, Rogers sent the home fans home happy with a game-ending single in the bottom of the seventh to score
Ciara Trahan from second and clinch the series for Texas State. On Sunday, Rogers was credited with her second triple of the season when she scored
Sara Vanderford from first and extend Texas State's then-lead to a three-run advantage in the bottom of the fifth.
Behind Mullins and Rogers' performances last weekend, Texas State (32-17, 16-8) swept the three-game conference series against Troy. As a result, the Bobcats moved into sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt standings heading into the Bobcats' final regular-season conference series this week.
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