A defensive struggle and failure to find consistent offense plagued Texas State softball (18-9) as it lost both games in its doubleheader matchup against Texas Tech (22-7) at Bobcat Softball Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
The Bobcats entered Tuesday’s doubleheader ranked 25th nationally by D1 Softball and were looking to build off the momentum they established Sunday after upsetting the 10th ranked Texas Longhorns in the Bevo Classic Tournament. The Red Raiders had different ideas.
Junior pitcher Jessica Mullins threw a complete game for Texas State in the first matchup, marking her ninth of the season. By striking out two of the first three batters she faced, it seemed as though the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week was poised for another strong outing. Instead, she struggled over the course of the final six innings allowing four runs, five hits, and two walks with only two strikeouts.
In the top of the second inning, Texas Tech senior first baseman Ellie Bailey hit a homerun to give the Red Raiders an early 1-0 lead. Tech increased its lead to 3-0 in the fourth after a homerun from fifth year centerfielder Peyton Blythe.
The Bobcats bats came to life in the bottom of the fourth as senior infielder Sara Vanderford doubled into deep left field to bring junior outfielder Piper Randolph home for Texas State’s first run of the game. During the next at-bat, junior utility JJ Smith singled to bring Vanderford and junior utility Anna Jones home to tie the score at 3-3.
In the fifth inning, a sacrifice pop fly from Texas Tech sophomore outfielder Demi Elder allowed junior infielder Abbie Orrick to score the game winning run for the Raiders.
Texas State softball head coach Ricci Woodard believes that was the game’s deciding factor.
“We got to get the barrelhead on the ball that’s the bottom line,” Woodard said after the game. “We can’t leave runners on base. It takes a lot of singles to score runs the way we’re doing it right now. You can’t leave nine people on base against a good hitting team.”
After a brief intermission, both teams retook the field for the second game of the afternoon doubleheader.
Junior right-handed pitcher Karsen Pierce started on the mound for Texas State in the second game for her seventh start of the season. Pierce allowed four hits, three runs, three walks and struck out three batters on an 85-pitch count over six innings.
Unlike in the first game, the Bobcat offense clicked early and it managed to load the bases in the bottom of the first inning. A sacrifice pop fly from Vanderford brought junior utility Hannah Earls home to give Texas State an early 1-0 lead. 
The game’s next score came in the bottom of the fifth after Jones singled to first base, allowing Randolph to score to increase the Bobcat lead to 2-0.
In the sixth inning, a single grounded out by Blythe brought fifth-year senior pitcher Makinzy Herzog home to get the Red Raiders on the board. During the next at bat Bailey hit the third Texas Tech homerun of the day to bring herself and freshman outfielder Kailey Wyckoff home to take the lead at 3-2. This was enough to clinch the victory as Texas State could not string together any more runs in the final two innings.
Woodard made a pitching change for the final inning bringing senior right-handed pitcher Tori McCann out of the bullpen in relief of Pierce. McCann threw 14 pitches in the inning without allowing any hits, runs or walks giving the offense an opportunity to win the game.
Texas State softball will now begin conference play with a three-game series against the Troy Trojans from March 17-19.
The first pitch of the series between Texas State and Troy is set for 5 p.m. on Friday, March 17, at Trojan Softball Complex in Troy, Alabama.