Boone, NC – Texas State softball heads to Boone, NC for a return to conference play against App State. The three-game series will begin on March 31 with the first game beginning at 5 p.m. (ET). All three games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
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 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 is in 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.
 
In her junior year, pitcher Jessica Mullins has entered Texas State's all-time top-10 in several career categories.
 
-       4th overall for ERA (1.79),
-       8th for appearances (107)
-       8th for innings pitched (515.0)
-       6th for wins (59)
-       10th for shutouts (11).
-       Mullins is three complete games away from breaking into the top 10 with 39.
 
In addition to Mullins, third baseman Sara Vanderford is also climbing the Texas State career lists. The senior is third in career batting average (.330), 4th in career doubles (44), 4th in career home runs (27), and 5th in career RBI (123).
 
Hannah Earls has made her way into the record book with 56 stolen bases, good to be 3rd on the all-time list. Sophomore Ciara Trahan has made her way into the record books with a .334 batting average in 299 at bats, good for second on the all-time list.
 
The Bobcats head into this week's game with a 20-14-1 record on the season. The team is 1-4-1 in conference competitions this season.
 
Texas State has a 14-3 record against App State with a perfect 5-0 record in Boone. The last time these two teams met was in the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament where the Bobcats won 2-0.
 
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS:
Baylor comes into the week with an 18-10 record. App State has only had two home games so far the season with both being losses, one to Marshall and one to North Carolina.
 
The Mountaineers have just two starters hitting over the .300 mark this season. Kayt Houston is batting a .396 with 22 runs on 38 hits and 14 RBI. Taylor Thorp is batting at .380 with 11 runs on 27 hits and 19 RBI.
 
Pitching for App State will likely be Kaylie Northrop. Northrop has eight starts on 14 appearances with a 2.06 ERA and a 7-3 record on the season. She's pitched six complete games and allowed 27 runs. 
 
The Mountaineers are ninth in the Sun Belt.
 
UP NEXT: The team will return home for a weekend series with Southern Miss beginning on April 6^th. The series will be three games with the first pitch on Thursday at 6 pm (CT).