The Texas State softball team extended its win streak to eight after a weekend sweep of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers March 17-18.
Texas State dominated its Sun Belt Conference rivals, outscoring the Chanticleers 18-4 in the three-game series. The sweep gives the Bobcats a 22-7 record on the season, with a 5-0 record in Sun Belt Conference play.
The first two games of the series were a part of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.
The anomaly of the series was the 1-0 extra-innings defensive showdown in game one. Stellar performances from both the Bobcat and the Chanticleers’ starting pitchers kept the game tight until the eighth inning rolled around.
It was in the bottom eighth inning that the only run of the game was scored. With Bobcat runners on first and third, the Chanticleers walked Ariel Ortiz, senior infielder, to load the bases. Taking advantage of the situation, Tara Oltmann, freshman infielder, drew a nine-pitch walk for the win.
The start of game two saw Coastal Carolina come out firing. The Chanticleers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Their first two runs came off a two-run homer from Courtney Dean, freshman infielder. The third run was a homer from Cassidy Smith, sophomore infielder.
Answering the three Chanticleer runs, the Bobcats’ scored their first run of the game off after the Chanticleers walked Bailee Carter, sophomore infielder, bringing home Christiana McDowell, sophomore infielder, for the score.
The Bobcats’ second run came after Jacklyn Molenaar, senior outfielder, reached home after McDowell was caught stealing.
Texas State scored its next five runs in the third inning. The first run was a single RBI to center field from Hailey MacKay, sophomore infielder. The next two runs came off an RBI double to center from Kourtney Pock, junior utility. The Bobcats’ final two runs came from Brianna Sannem, freshman infielder.
The Chanticleers scored one more run in the sixth inning but were unable to overcome Texas State’s third-inning flurry of offense, falling 7-4.
The Bobcats carried over the momentum from their game two win, imposing their will on and blowing out Coastal Carolina 10-0.
RBI singles from Oltmann, Haleigh Davis, sophomore infielder, and Jaelyn Young, senior catcher, made up the first three of Texas State’s 10 runs in the bottom of the second.
An RBI single from Ortiz and a sac fly from Oltmann added two more runs to the Bobcats’ lead in the bottom of the third.
The final five runs of the game came in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Kennedy Cline, junior outfielder, drew a walk, scoring Kylie Matula, freshman infielder. It was MacKay that sealed he blowout victory with a walk-off grand slam.
Up next for the Bobcats is matchup against the University of Texas Longhorns in Austin, Wednesday, March 21. at 6 p.m.