SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State softball heads back out on the road for its first Sun Belt Conference series at James Madison. The Bobcats will play three games with the Dukes between Friday, March 15 and Sunday, March 17. The first game will begin at 1 pm on Friday, with the whole series streaming on ESPN+.
Last time these two teams met, the Bobcats won the series with two wins and a loss when hosting the Dukes in the 2023 season. This will be the Bobcats first trip to Harrisonburg in program history.
The Bobcats went 13-9-1 in conference play last season for a 5
th place finish in the Sun Belt.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS:
Texas State will begin conference play with a 20-6 record and ranked No. 25 by D1 Softball and No. 24 by Softball America's poll. The Bobcats are also receiving votes in the NFCA poll. Texas State sits with the highest RPI in the Sun Belt, at No. 14
Leading the offense for the Bobcats going into the week is
Hannah Earls who's batting .382. She has 34 hits, 18 runs and 4 RBI in 89 at-bats.
Sara Vanderford is also helping the Bobcat offense with a .373 batting averaging as she's good for 28 hits, 19 runs and 18 RBI in 75 at-bats.
Ciara Trahan is batting .350 and
Anna Jones rounds out the top of the lineup with a .329.
Jessica Mullins has been the Bobcats ace pitcher this season with her 0.62 ERA. She has pitched 79.2 innings so far this season with 84 strikeouts, seven earned runs, seven walked batters and just 12 extra-base hits allowed. She has tossed seven complete games included one perfect game.
The Bobcats are 1
st in the Sun Belt at the start of conference play.
ABOUT THE DUKES:
James Madison comes into conference play on a four-game win streak. The Dukes bats are hot with at least nine runs in each of their last four games. They are now 16-7 on the season and led by 7th year head coach Loren Laporte who has a 211-81 record with the Dukes.
The Dukes have five players hitting over the .350 mark this season including Kate Carrier (.421), Reed Butler (.395), KK Mathis (.377), Jasmine Hall (.373) and Bella Henzler (.370). Butler is leading the Dukes offense with 30 hits, 20 runs and 22 RBI in 76 at-bats. Mathis follows closesly with 29 hits, 19 runs and 22 RBI in 77 at-bats.
Pitching for the Dukes is likely to be Alissa Humphrey. She has 14 appearances and 6 starts for the Dukes this season. She has a 1.30 ERA with three complete games. She's pitched 48.1 innings, allowing just 26 hits and 9 runs. She has 56 strikeouts so far this season and batters average .156 against her.
Troy is currently ranked 4
th in the conference with their 16-7 record.
UP NEXT:
The Bobcats will head host No. 19 Texas A&M in a midweek matchup on March 20 at 6 pm in Bobcat Softball Stadium. That weekend the Bobcats will host App State in its first home conference series of the season. The Bobcats swept the series in the two sides meeting last season.
