In the final day of action in the regular season, the Texas State Bobcats wrapped up their last weekend as a member of the Sun Belt Conference with a series-winning doubleheader on Friday, May 1 against the App State Mountaineers that featured high-scoring results in a pair-of-split games at Sywassink/Lloyd Ballpark in Boone, N.C.
Game 1: App State 13, TXST 12
The first game of the day was an absolute barnburner between the Bobcats and Mountaineers, with every punch having a counterpunch in return as App State took the second game of the weekend series in dramatic fashion with a 13-12 walk-off victory.
Texas State took an early advantage right from the-go in the first inning, capitalizing on an error that allowed two runs to score on a sacrifice fly before yet another sacrifice fly from junior third basemen Kate Bubela gave the Bobcats a 3-0 lead.
As it transitioned to the bottom of the first inning, App State responded in kind, cutting into the defecit with an RBI single before Mountaineers catcher Leah Gore smacked a go-ahead grand slam into right-center to go up 5-3, the first of many bombs that left the park.
Following the second inning, the first of just two that featured no runs from either team, the Bobcats evened the score thanks to the efforts of junior second basemen Kat Zarate’s leadoff home run and senior right fielder Keely Williams’s RBI double. App State re-took the lead in the bottom half with a two-out double from sophomore centerfielder Julia Girk to make it 6-5.
The fourth inning alone featured the most amount of action. The Bobcats began the scoring with a no outs, bases loaded sacrifice fly from senior centerfielder Sydney Harvey to even the score at six-all. The bases were filled once again as Texas State proceeded to drive in an additional five runs off three consecutive hits to reach a double-digit score of 11-6. However, the Mountaineers did not lay down following that implosion and decided to give the Bobcats a taste of their own medicine.
App State came back with a five-run inning of their own, taking advantage of poor pitching and multiple hit-by-pitches and walks from senior Analisa Soliz and freshman Kaili Witherell, knotting it up at 11-apiece.
In the fifth, the Mountaineers re-took the lead for the third time of the game via a lead-off bomb from junior shortstop Grace Barrett.
The final inning of action featured senior first basemen Aiyana Coleman even the score with a lead-off home run of her own, delivering her 16th home run of the year. However, the bats fell quietly afterwards as it pushed onward into the bottom of the seventh.
App State ultimately had the last laugh as sophomore first basemen Emilie Ching delivered a walk-off RBI single down into leftfield to wrap up a shootout that evened the weekend series heading into the final regular season game.
Game 2: App State 1, TXST 15
In the rubber match and final regular season game of the year, Texas State continued their scorching hot offense from the first game of the doubleheader alongside junior pitcher Madison Azua shutting down the Mountaineers in order to give the Bobcats their fifth straight weekend series victory with a 15-1 run-rule victory.
Azua started and tossed the complete game for the Bobcats (35-19, 16-8 SBC), striking out six and only allowed one run in five innings, picking up her 25th win of the season.
The Bobcats started their second game of the day by scoring six in the first inning. The first three runs came from a home run off the bat of junior infielder Kat Zarate. Singles from senior catcher Megan Kelnar and sophomore outfielder Melania Reeves scored one run each. Kelnar came around and score on a wild pitch to be the last run of the inning.
App State (29-21, SBC 8-16) had a much quieter offensive response compared to the earlier game, scoring their one and only run of the game in the bottom of the first from an RBI single by junior outfielder KB Bradshaw.
Texas State went on to add another six runs in the second inning. Coleman walked to start the inning, and the bases were loaded on a couple of singles. A throwing error by the Mountaineers allowed two runs to score.
A pair of two-RBI singles from senior catcher Karmyn Bass and Coleman made the score 12-1 going into the third inning.
Bass added another run to the board in the third inning with a double. Kelnar added an exclaimation point to Texas State’s victory with a two-run home run to centerfield, her first of the season and third of her career.
The Bobcats conclude the regular season finishing third in the SBC behind Marshall and regular season champion Louisiana-Monroe. Locked in as the third overall seed heading into the Conference Tournament, they look to have their last hurrah in the Sun Belt as they will begin at 10 a.m. on May 7 in the quarterfinals against six-seeded James Madison at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.
All tournament games will be streamed on ESPN+.
