A gem in the circle from senior pitcher Emma Strood led Texas State (33-18) to a series-clinching victory over Coastal Carolina (22-28) by a tally of 5-0, Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Softball Stadium. 

On the same day she was honored as one of eight seniors in the program, Strood put together one of her best outings of the season, tossing a complete game shutout and only surrendering two hits on the day. 

Texas State got the scoring started in the second inning when senior shortstop Sami Hood pushed across the first two runs of the game on a sacrifice fly as both senior outfielder Sydney Harvey and junior third baseman Kate Bubela scored on the play. 

The Bobcats added to their tally in the fourth when senior outfielder Keely Williams drew a bases-loaded walk to go up 3-0. Directly after, senior utility Karmyn Bass drove in senior catcher Megan Kelnar on a fielder’s choice to go up 4-0. 

Kelnar put her fingerprint on the game one more time in the fifth as she singled into right field, leading to Bubela coming around to score the ‘Cats’ fifth and final run of the game.

With a comfortable lead, Strood finished off her complete game, clinching another conference series victory for the Bobcats. 

The Bobcats will look to finish off a sweep of the Chanticleers in Sunday’s finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The game will be streaming on ESPN+.