Two dominating aces paved the way for a pitcher’s duel that went deep into extras as the Texas State Bobcats (17-8, 1-0 SBC) battled to a narrow 1-0 victory against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (16-13, 0-1 SBC) Friday night at Bobcat Softball Stadium.

The Bobcats first conference victory of the season, along with their fourth straight, was an intense blinking contest as both sides, despite getting on base plenty of times, kept each other at bay well throughout.

Both starting pitchers tossed their way into the 10th inning, as junior Madison Azua struck out seven on five hits with two walks while her Warhawk counterpart in senior Ashanti McDade pitched 9.2  innings with two strikeouts on seven hits and eight walks.

Ultimately, the game came down to mere inches that could’ve gone in either team’s direction.

As the game time passed three hours, with freshman leftfielder Harley Vestal representing the winning run on second, senior catcher Megan Kelnar lined a hit directly toward freshman third basemen Carson Jansky, which deflected off her glove toward foul territory.

However, it was called fair and Vestal was able to reach home in time to score the game winning run. The umpires converged and reviewed it in favor of the Bobcats, giving Texas State the conference opener.