SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State softball will head to San Antonio for a midweek game with the UTSA Roadrunners. This is the second meeting of these two teams this season after the Bobcats beat the Roadrunners 1-0 in San Marcos on Feb. 23 as the opener of the 2023 TXST Classic.
 
ABOUT THE BOBCATS:
Texas State, which is coming off a 38-win campaign and narrowly missing an NCAA Regional as an at-large bid, was picked second in the Sun Belt coaches preseason poll. The Bobcats have finished in the conference's top three in the standings for three straight years, but the conference has grown this year with three new teams: James Madison, Marshall, and Southern Miss.
 
The Bobcats returns 12 players (11 letterwinners) from last year's team, including former All-Sun Belt players Jessica Mullins(pitcher), Sara Vanderford (third base), Ciara Trahan (outfield) and Hannah Earls (shortstop). The Bobcats also return position players Claire Ginder, who played in all but one game last year, Anna Jones (52 games) and Piper Randolph (43 games). Offensively, the Bobcats return 61 percent of their RBI from last year (146 out of 238). 
 
In the circle, the Bobcats return Mullins, Karsen Pierce (26 appearances, 13 starts), Presley Glende (17 appearances, 3 starts) and Tori McCann (7 appearances, 2 starts). Texas State returns 98 percent of its innings pitched from last season.
 
Head coach Ricci Woodard will enter her 23rd season at the helm of Texas State softball. With 12 conference championships and 9 NCAA Regional appearances, Woodard enters the season with 762 career wins. Woodard is 28th among active Division I coaches in career wins, and she has a shot this season to join the group of 26 active Division I head coaches with 800 career wins. Among the top-30 NCAA Division I head coaches in terms of career wins, Woodard is one of only 13 coaches to accumulate their wins at one school. Others: Patty Gasso (Oklahoma), Jana McGinnis (Jacksonville State), Holly Hesse (Missouri State), Fran Troyan (Lehigh), Mary Ellen-Hall (Houston Christian), Jane Worthington (Eastern Kentucky), Deanna Gumpf (Notre Dame), Patti Gerckens (UC San Diego), Brian Kolze (Pacific), Chris Cannata (Albany), Gordon Eakin (BYU) and Lisa Costello (Towson). 
 
In her junior year, pitcher Jessica Mullins has entered Texas State's all-time top-10 in several career categories.
 
-       4th overall for ERA (1.74),
-       8th for appearances (103)
-       8th for innings pitched (503.0)
-       6th for wins (58)
-       10th for shutouts (11).
-       Mullins is three complete games away from breaking into the top 10 with 39.
 
Mullins was named the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Awards pick for Pitcher of the Year. So far as a Bobcat Mullins has been named Sunbelt Pitcher of the Week six times. In Texas State's 3-1 win over Alabama on March 11, Mullins made her 100^th career appearance for the Bobcats, just one of three active members on the team with 100+ appearances.
 
In addition to Mullins, third baseman Sara Vanderford is also climbing the Texas State career lists. The senior is third in career batting average (.326), tied for 4th in career doubles (43), 4th in career home runs (25), and 6th in career RBI (116).
 
Hannah Earls has made her way into the record book with 55 stolen bases, good to be 3rd on the all-time list. Sophomore Ciara Trahan has made her way into the record books with a .335 batting average in 284 at bats, good for second on the all-time list.
 
Head Coach Ricci Woodard brought in nine new members to this year's squad, one transfer and eight freshman. The eight freshmen include now-mainstay in the starting lineup Katarina Zarate. Zarate has started in all 30 of the Bobcats games since joining the squad.
 
Joining her are catchers Karmyn Bass who has 28 appearances at catcher and Megan Kelnar who has 17 starts on 20 appearances at catcher so far. Emilee Baker has joined primarily as a pinch runner with 20 appearances.
 
In addition to the freshmen, Woodard went to the transfer portal just one time headed into this season and got former Longhorn JJ Smith. Smith played two seasons for Texas where she was voted to the Big-12 All-Freshman team in her first year and helped UT finish second in the College World Series her sophomore year. Since joining the Bobcats, Smith has slid right in at starting first basemen and had a .241 batting average, having eight runs, 10 walks and 20 hits in 30 games this season.
 
ABOUT THE ROADRUNNERS:
UTSA comes into the game off a rough start to Conference USA play. The Roadrunners were swept by North Texas, allowing 31 runs in three games. The Roadrunners currently sit with a five-game losing streak and have scored just six runs in their last three games. They are now 6-22 on the season and led by ninth year head coach Michelle Cheatham who is a former Roadrunner herself. She was a player and then assistant coach for the team prior to becoming head coach in August of 2013.
 
The Roadrunnrers have four players hitting over the .300 mark this season including Kat Ibarra (.358), Emily Dear (.353), Taylor Jensen (.325) and Marena Estell (.303). Ibarra leads the Roadrunners in runs with 20 and walks with 16. She also has 10 RBI this season. Estell leads the team in RBI with 17 while also having 10 runs on 20 hits.
 
Pitching for UTSA is likely to be Reagan Smith or Jamie Gilbert. Smith has eight starts and 19 appearances with a 4.37 ERA and a 3-8 record on the season. She's pitched two complete games and allowed 46 runs. Gilbert has 10 starts and 18 appearances with a 6.33 ERA having pitched just one complete game this season.
 
The Roadrunners are currently last in the C-USA standings.
 
UP NEXT:
Texas State will then return home for their first home series of conference play against South Alabama March 24-26. The opening game of the series will start at 6 p.m. on March 24. All three games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+.