Texas State softball (38-12, 17-6 Sun Belt) will face the No. 10 University of Oregon Ducks (37-15, 14-10 Pac 12) in the NCAA Regionals on May 21.
This will mark the Bobcats’ fourth appearance at the Regionals in the last five full seasons, and it will be their first game against the Ducks since Feb. 12, 2005.
The Bobcats crawl into the matchup after being eliminated from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament via a 4-3 walk-off loss to the University of South Alabama on May 15. The Ducks, however, enter on a win after sweeping the University of California in a four-game series from May 13-15.
In the box, sophomore infielder Sara Vanderford is the Bobcats’ top batter. She is second in batting average (.410), first in home runs (12), first in slugging percentage (.771), third in RBI (45) and tied for third in doubles (16).
Right behind Vanderford is senior infielder Tara Oltmann. Oltmann has a .343 batting average and is fourth in home runs (10), tied for fifth in RBI (39) and fourth in slugging percentage (.669).
For Oregon, senior outfielder Haley Cruse has team-highs in batting average (.382), hits (63), runs (41), slugging percentage (.618) and doubles (14).
Junior utility Allee Bunker is second on the Ducks’ team in batting average (.347), hits (58), runs (34) and doubles (9). She leads the team in RBI (46) and home runs (9).
Back in the Bobcat bullpen, freshman pitcher Jessica Mullins and senior pitcher Meagan King will take the reins this series. Mullins is 20-6 on the year, second in the Sun Belt in earned run average (1.59), fourth in strikeouts (166) and seventh in opponent batting average (.216). King is not far behind, placing 11-4 on the season, third in earned run average (1.93), tied for second in saves (four) and ninth in opponent batting average (.242).
The first pitch will be thrown at 6:30 p.m. on May 21, at McCombs Field in Austin and will air on ESPN3.