In the rubber match of the second-to-last home series of the season, second basemen Makaley Boswell led the Troy Trojans (29-21, 8-10 SBC) to a series-clinching victory with a 3-2 win over the Texas State Bobcats (30-15, 12-6 SBC) Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Softball Stadium.
Savannah Money earned her fourth victory of the year, pitching the last two innings whilst giving up three hits and one earned run in the sixth inning.
The Bobcats offense had no problem with getting on base, producing six hits. However, the offense failed to capitalize against the Trojan pitching staff, leaving four runners on base.
“I couldn’t tell if the pressure got to us or if it being the third game of the series got to us,” said Texas State softball head coach Ricci Woodard. “We just didn’t the perform the way I think we’re capable of today.”
Emma Strood started the game for the Bobcats, only lasting just one inning when Maddy Azua came in to pitch the remaining six.
Troy, much like in the first two games of the series, struck first. In the top half of the second inning, outfielder Emily Ferro scored on a fielder’s choice. Not much later, Boswell batted for an RBI single into left field to extend the Trojan lead to 2-0.
The Bobcats quickly got a run of their own when catcher Megan Kelnar produced an RBI single up the middle, cutting the lead in half. From there on, besides some impressive defensive plays, both offenses were rather quiet going into the bottom of the sixth.
Texas State would tie the game 2-2 after left fielder Ciara Trahan singled, allowing Keely Williams to reach home safely.
However, the tie game didn’t last long. Troy capitalized quickly after catcher Mia Tidmore got on with a bunt single. After Tidmore reached second on a sacrifice bunt, Boswell would ultimately put the Trojans back on top for good with a bolted RBI double toward right center.
The Bobcats would go out quietly in the bottom half of the seventh besides a Kate Bubela single, giving Troy their fourth series victory on the season.
With the end of the regular season quickly approaching, the race for the in-season conference title continues to intensify. With Louisiana-Monroe’s (33-16, 13-5 SBC) victory against Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon (27-20, 11-7 SBC), Texas State stands second overall in the Sun Belt standings.
The Sun Belt regular season title could ultimately come down to the last regular season series of the year when Texas State visits ULM at the beginning of May.
“(The pressure) is not going to get easier,” said Woodard. “It’s just going to keep getting bigger when it’s fighting for a conference championship…we have to get better.”
Texas State will play its final out-of-conference regular season game Tuesday night when it heads to Waco to play the Baylor Bears. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
