MONROE, La.,– Texas State softball completed the series sweep against ULM on Saturday to clinch the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Title. After a 7-4 and 6-2 win over the Warhawks in Monroe, the Bobcats were alone at the top to be named title winners, and the No. 1 seed headed into the Sun Belt Tournament next week.

Highlighting the two games was a record-breaking performance from Aiyana Coleman who broke Texas State's single season RBI and home run records with two home runs and four RBI in game one against the Warhawks. That, paired with timely hitting from the Bobcats and clutch pitching from Emma Strood in game two helped the Bobcats to the series sweep over the Warhawks.

The Bobcats will start their run in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Tournament against the winner of the 8/9 seeded game between Troy and James Madison on May 8 at 10 am.

How it Happened: 
Game 1: Texas State 7, ULM 4
Texas State clinched a share of its first regular season title since 2018 with a 7-4 win in the first game against the Warhawks. 

Erin Peterson reached first on a single up the middle, she'd be scored by Coleman's 16^th home run of the season. That made her the program's single season home run record holder and gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead early in the game. Megan Kelnar doubled to right center afterwards, but was left stranded after a ground out.

Maddy Azua started in the circle for the Bobcats, she tossed 6.0 innings while allowing 10 hits and four runs, striking out six batters along the way. She started the game off with two of her strikeouts, retiring the Warhawks in order in the first inning.

The Bobcats broke the game open in the 3^rd inning after Keely Williams was walked to put a baserunner on. From there, Coleman hit her second homerun of the game, her 17^th on the season. The two RBI from that shot made Coleman the program's single season RBI record holder as well with 55 so far this season. 

From there, Kelnar and Trahan would single to left to put two runners on. From there, a Bailee Slack single would turn into an error after the Warhawks pitcher through the ball deep into right field. Slack would score three, including herself, on the play. 

After that, Azua retired the Warhawks in order to put an exclamation mark on the Bobcats 7-0 lead after 3.

The game became a chess match through the middle innings. ULM pulled some runs back late, in the 6^th and 7^th innings, but it was too late for the Warhawks to stage a comeback. After Analisa Soliz came in to pitch the final inning, the Bobcats would hold onto the game and win 7-4.

Game 2: Texas State 6, ULM 2
Kelnar got the scoring started for the Bobcats in the 2^nd game. After Harvey and Coleman were walked to put two runners on, Kelnar singled through the left side to score Harvey and give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

Emma Strood started in the circle for the Bobcats, and she'd get her first strikeout of the night in the bottom of the 1^st to end the inning.

From there, it took the Bobcats to the third inning to add another run while Strood kept the Warhawks off the board. The second run came from a bases loaded walk, again by Kelnar. Harvey, Williams and Coleman had all been walked previously in the inning to load the bases, Kelnar's walk would score the run that made it 2-0.

Texas State added a third run in the sixth courtesy of some chaos on the base paths after Sydney Harvey put the ball into play. Karmyn Bass would score to make it 3-0.

ULM answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 6^th, though, to make it a 3-2 ball game headed into the final inning.

The Bobcats didn't let that scare them, though, and came out swinging in the 7^th. After Coleman was walked for the 7^th time this weekend to reach base, Kelnar singled through the left side. The pair would advance to scoring position on a wild pitch. 

Then, Ciara Trahan tripled to right field to score the pair. She'd give the Bobcats a three-run lead. Following that up, Bass would ground out but score Trahan from third in the process.

In the bottom of the 7^th, Strood allowed a runner on from a single. Didn't matter for long, though, as Trahan turned a double play to get her out and put the Bobcats one out away. Strood would take down Meagan Brown swinging to end the game.

After the two wins Texas State is now 34-18 on the season, and finish 16-8 in Sun Belt play.

Up next:
Texas State will await its opponent for the first round of the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Troy, Ala,. The Bobcats will play May 8 at 4 p.m. against the winner of the 8/9 seed game between Troy and James Madison. Fans can watch the game and the entire Sun Belt Tournament on ESPN+ except for the tournament championship, which will be on ESPN 2.