A gem in the circle by Maddy Azua, coupled with just enough offense led Texas State softball (23-11) to a 2-1 victory over South Alabama (15-21) Friday night at Bobcat Softball Stadium.

“That was definitely a win we had to grind out,” Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard said. “Some of that is obviously because Maddy Azua threw a great game and did what we needed her to do.”

The Bobcat offense seems to be in a bit of a funk lately. Luckily for the offense, Azua is there to back them up when necessary. Azua put together one of her best outings of the season, tossing seven innings of two-hit, one-run softball.

Opposite Azua, South Alabama starter Ryley Harrison did her best to go stride for stride with the Bobcats ace. Harrison turned in a solid outing by any standard, holding the Bobcats to two runs on three hits. Unfortunately for Harrison, she was simply out-dueled by Azua at the end of the night.

The run scoring on the evening was limited to just two half innings all game long. Texas State cracked the zero’s first in the third. A leadoff walk drawn by Bailee Slack set the table for the rest of the inning. Following Slack’s walk, Erin Peterson dumped a single into the outfield. Slack advanced to third on the play which allowed for Peterson to take second.

With two in scoring position and no outs, Sydney Harvey hit a chopper to third, but Slack’s speed made the difference as she beat the throw home to break the scoreless ball game open. The very next batter, Keely Williams, narrowly missed a home run, instead settling for a sacrifice fly that plated Peterson.

Peterson was the final Bobcat to cross the plate on the evening.

South Alabama scratched a run back in the sixth on an RBI single off the bat of Olivia Branstetter, but Azua would hold the Jaguars to just the one run in the sixth. Azua finished the game, tossing a zero in the seventh, securing the game-one win for the Bobcats.

Game two between Texas State and South Alabama is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be streaming on ESPN+.