SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State softball will head on its final road trip of the 2023 regular season in its visit to Marshall. This will be the Bobcats first visit to Marshall in school history as the Herd are first-year members of the Sun Belt Conference. 

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 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.
 
In her junior year, pitcher Jessica Mullins has entered Texas State's all-time top-10 in several career categories.
 
-       4th overall for ERA (1.88),
-       8th for appearances (116)
-       8th for innings pitched (552.2)
-       6th for wins (63)
-       10th for shutouts (11).
-       T10th for complete games (42).
 
Third baseman Sara Vanderford is also climbing the Texas State career lists. The senior is third in career batting average (.327), 4th in career home runs (28), and 4th in career RBI (130). In Texas State's series with ULM Vanderford hit her 50^th double of her career, which ties her for first place in school history in the category.
 
Hannah Earls has made her way into the record book with 61stolen bases, good to be 3rd on the all-time list. Sophomore Ciara Trahan is in the record books with a .315 batting average in 333 at bats, which also has her in the top 10 in program history for batting average.
 
The Bobcats head into this week's game with a 29-20-1 record on the season. The Bobcats are coming off a weather delay that forced the early termination of a midweek game with the Baylor Bears. The game had played five complete innings, so when a tornado warning got too close to the ballpark, the game was called. Texas State was down 3-0 in the middle of the first at-bat of the top of the 6^th when the game was cancelled.

So far this season Earl's leads the team with a .327 batting average where she has 51 hits and 21 runs while tacking on 12 RBI. She has been walked 15 times this season and leads the team with 19 stolen bases. On her next stolen base, she will hit 20 which will have her at her third season with 20+ stolen bases in a season, one of just seven Bobcats ever to accomplish the feat.  Additionally, Ciara Trahan leads off for the Bobcats with a .291 batting average with 28 runs on 44 hits with 15 RBI.
 
The Bobcats have two other batters, Piper Randolph and Sara Vanderford, batting above .300 this season. 
 
Texas State boasts three pitchers with 15+ appearances with ERAs under 2.60. Jessica Mullins has a 2.13 ERA and a 16-9 record. Additionally, Karsen Pierce has a 2.52 ERA with a 6-3 record, and Tori McCann has a 2.38 ERA with a 7-7 record.
 
Texas State sits in 6^th place in the Sun Belt.
 
ABOUT THE HERD:
Marshall comes into the week with a 39-7 record on the season with a 13-3 conference record. The Herd are coming off a win over #24 Virginia Tech, which was the programs first win against a ranked opponent since 2008. The Herd's three conferences losses have come against James Madison, Coastal Carolina and ULM.
 
Marshall has seven batters batting above .300 this season, including two above .400. The Herd's lead batters are Autumn Owen and Alex Coleman. Owen leads the way with a .457 batting average with 50 runs and 59 hits in 129 at bats. She leads the team with 64 RBI. Additionally, Coleman was a .432 average with 56 runs on 67 hits.
 
Pitching for Marshall will be Sydney Nester. Nester has a 1.12 ERA with 197 strikeouts and 29 earned runs in 182.0 innings pitched. Batters have a .173 average against her. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: 
This is the first time the Bobcats have taken on Marshall in school history.

UP NEXT: The Bobcats will return home to host James Madison to close out the 2023 regular season. The three-game series will begin May 4^th for Star Wars Night inside Bobcat Stadium. All three games will also be available to stream on ESPN+.