Texas State softball (33-21-1, 13-8-1 Sun Belt Conference) defeated James Madison University (27-18, 12-11 Sun Belt Conference) in the second of three games on Friday, winning 8-2 and clinching the final series ahead of postseason play.
Freshman utility Katarina Zarate believed in the teams’ game plan for game two and felt comfortable after learning to understand the pitching strategy from James Madison. 
“We faced all those pitchers already so I kind of I think we had a game plan going out there and we just stuck to it and trusted it,” Zarate said. “We just know what they’re going to do to us, and we’ve seen everything they can do so they really couldn’t do anything to fool us.”
The Bobcats began with a quick score after a single from senior infield Sara Vanderford down midfield allowed a run from sophomore outfielder Ciara Trahan, good for a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.
James Madison answered with a run of its own coming in the second inning, tying the game momentarily, but proceeded the following three innings without a single score.
The Bobcats managed to score a run in each of the first three innings, and further took control after four unanswered runs came in the fifth inning alone.
Junior utility Hannah Earls also believed in the Bobcats game plan ahead of the second contest, explaining she knew exactly what to expect from the Lady Dukes on Friday.
“My first at bat I pretty much knew exactly what she was throwing, because we got the same two pitchers yesterday, so we knew what was coming.” Earls said. “It’s pretty big because we want to keep moving up in the rankings and a sweep tomorrow would be awesome.”
Head coach Ricci Woodard is proud of the way her team performed in the second game of the series, explaining a win tomorrow could build confidence and roll over to the postseason tournament.
“I just think it builds confidence, and so you know that’s what we’re trying to do going into next weekend is build some confidence and just carry it over from a bat to a bat.” Woodard said.
Texas State now prepares for its next game, the final contest of the 2023 regular season and the third game of this series versus James Madison.