SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State split its two games on day two of the Texas State Tournament on Saturday, topping Kent State 5-1 in the morning matchup before falling to Villanova 4-2 in the afternoon at Bobcat Softball Stadium.
 
Jessica Mullins struck out six and allowed one run in five innings pitched to earn her first win of the season in the victory over the Golden Flashes (0-4). Ciara Trahan, meanwhile, had three hits and three RBI in the contest.
 
In game two of the day, Texas State pitchers walked nine and surrendered three unanswered runs after the fourth inning to lose to the Wildcats (2-1) in the afternoon.
 
The Bobcats close out the Opening Weekend tournament on Sunday at 12 pm with a matchup against Wichita State. The Shockers narrowly defeated the Bobcats, 3-2, on Friday.
 
From Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard
On the Villanova game...
"I thought we just gave one away right there (against Villanova). It wasn't a bad ballgame but when you walk nine people and don't make some plays, you're probably going to get beat. I thought Villanova outplayed us in just about every category, to be honest."

On the Kent State game...
"I like the way we came out to play. It was a very quick turnaround. I like the way we came back. I'm just not sure we put two ballgames together today because of some of that, but we got to deal with adversity a little bit better."
 
Game Summaries
Texas State Wins in Quick Turnaround over Kent State
In a game that started 14 hours after the final pitch on Friday night, the Bobcats used a three-run second inning and a strong first start of the season by Mullins to beat Kent State, 5-1, on Saturday morning.
 
Mullins worked around seven hits and two walks in the five innings to hold Kent State to only one run. She faced runners on base in all five frames but forced the Golden Flashes to strand nine. They finished with 11 left on base in the game.
 
The Bobcats scored their three runs in the second thanks a sacrifice fly from Braylin Pannill to plate Karmyn Bass, a run scored by Katarina Zarate following a Piper Randolph steal, and an RBI single by Trahan to score Randolph and make it 3-0 Texas State.
 
Trahan added RBI singles in the fourth and sixth to cap her three-RBI performance. She finished 3-for-4 at the plate.
 
Randolph reached base three times with a hit and two walks.
 
Presley Glende relieved Mullins and threw two scoreless innings to earn the save. She struck out two, walked one and allowed one hit against the eight batters faced.
 
Mullins' win was the 49th of her career.
 
Bobcats Can't Take Advantage of Villanova Mistakes in 4-2 Loss
Texas State faced runners on base in all seven innings against Villanova due to nine issued walks and seven hits allowed in the 4-2 loss in the afternoon.
 
Each of the four Texas pitchers walked at least two batters, including three by starter Analisa Soliz and two each from Karsen Pierce, Tori McCann and Mullins.
 
Texas State led 2-1 after the third inning following back-to-back outfielder errors by Villanova with two outs in the second inning and then a leadoff error in the third resulting in a run on an RBI double with two outs by Sara Vanderford.
 
Villanova tied the game, though, in the fifth when a leadoff single was converted to a run off Pierce.
 
The Wildcats later scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, a two-out single off McCann made it 3-2 and then in the seventh, a bases loaded walk issued by Mullins made it 4-2.
 
The Bobcats had a runner in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but came away scoreless in the situations. They finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-14 with runners on base.