A firework show worthy of the 4th of July broke out on a picture-perfect Sunday morning in South Carolina between Texas State softball (20-8) and Coastal Carolina (26-9). A combined 26 runs on 31 hits between the two squads lit up the scoreboard before Texas State completed its comeback with a five-run seventh inning, leading the Bobcats to a 14-12 victory.
A five-run second inning got the Bobcats off to a promising start. An Aiyana Coleman homer, Karmyn Bass double, Sydney Harvey single and a Chanticleer error led to the Bobcats’ five runs in the top of the second, giving them a 5-2 lead. Texas State’s five spot in the inning was more runs than it had scored in the first two games combined.
Coastal closed the gap in the home half of the second courtesy of a two-run homer. After holding the Bobcats scoreless in the third, the Chanticleers put up a five-spot of their own in the bottom half. A pair of home runs from Delaney Keith and Keirstin Roose along with an RBI single vaulted Coastal to a 9-5 lead after three.
Texas State responded in the fourth with two runs of its own courtesy of RBI singles from Coleman and Keely Williams to cut the lead to 9-7, but Coastal answered the Bobcats’ call and hung a three spot in the bottom half, running their lead back up to 12-7.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the only scoreless inning of the game, Texas State cut into the lead yet again in the sixth when Coleman hit her second home run of the game, this time one of the two-run variety to cut Coastal’s lead down to 12-9. Emma Strood kept Coastal off the board in the sixth, setting the stage for the seventh with the Bobcats still chasing three runs.
A lead-off walk issued to Bass brought Mayson Garrett to the plate, looking to move Bass over into scoring position. Instead, the freshman launched her third home run of the year, cutting the Chanticleers’ lead down to one. Shortly after, Coleman drove in her fifth run of the game with a sacrifice fly, knotting the score at 12-12. Capping off the Bobcats’ seventh inning, Ciara Trahan gave Texas State the lead with a two-RBI single, putting the Bobcats in front 14-12.
Coastal Carolina brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh in the form of Georgia Hood. Hood had been Coastal’s most dangerous bat all weekend, having racked up four home runs against Bobcat pitching. Strood stood in the circle and punched out Hood to finish off the Chanticleers and pick up her ninth win of the season.
Next for Texas State will be the first edition of the I-35 rivalry in 2025.
The Bobcats are set to host UTSA on Wednesday, March 26. The first pitch between the Bobcats and Roadrunners is set for 6 p.m. at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The game will be streaming on ESPN+.
