Another season has gone in the books following Texas State softball’s mixed day in the losers bracket at the Gainesville Regional Saturday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., which saw the Bobcats survive elimination against the Florida A&M Rattlers before falling to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for the second consecutive day to end their postseason run.
Game 1: 6-0, W
Senior pitcher Emma Strood started in the circle and pitched a gem to push the Bobcats to victory. She was on track for a no-hitter until the Rattlers got one of their two hits in the fifth inning.
Both junior second baseman Kat Zarate and senior designated hitter Karmyn Bass had two RBI against the Rattlers.
Despite having a scoreless first inning, senior first baseman Aiyana Coleman set a new program record for career walks when she was walked for the 111th time. This is the second program record she set this year.
Strood started the game with a walk, but a double play made by Coleman shut down any chance Florida A&M had of scoring. After that Strood was lights out.
The Bobcats struck first in the second inning with an RBI sac fly off the bat of senior shortstop Sami Hood. Zarate followed with an RBI double in the third inning that extended their lead to 2-0.
Offense fell quiet in the fourth, but Texas State doubled their lead in the fifth. Senior right fielder Keely Williams started the inning with a single to right field and eventually came around to score on a double by Coleman. Zarate then got her second RBI of the afternoon on a single up the middle.
Texas State was able to add insurance in the top of the seventh to secure their win. The ‘Cats were able to score two runs with two outs, both runs scoring on a single to left field by Bass.
The Rattlers managed to get runners in scoring position with no outs, but they were unable to manufacture any runs.
The Bobcat’s win assured that their season will continue for one more game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Game 2: 4-1, L
It was a game that felt very much like yesterday’s NCAA Tournament opener for the Bobcats, from the pitching duel right down to Georgia Tech’s late-push to victory against the Bobcats.
Junior pitcher Maddy Azua faced off once more against sophomore Madalyn Johnson with similar results, although the offenses compared to Friday’s game was much more of a presence.
Texas State entered the game as the away team, batting first as the offenses for both programs throughout the first two innings were silenced between Azua and Johnson.
In the top of the third, some steam began to pick up as the Bobcats threatened with runners in scoring position, started by senior catcher Megan Kelnar’s lead-off double. However, after a popup to end the inning, this became a common trend for Texas State in this game.
The scoring started off with a bang in the bottom half as the Yellow Jackets struck the first punch with a one-out solo shot into deep center by sophomore left fielder Alyssa Willer, giving Georgia Tech a 1-0 lead.
Williams’s leadoff single to begin the fourth, Kelnar drove her in with her second double of the game to even the affair at one-apiece.
After a quiet fifth inning overall for both, the Bobcats looked to go on-top for the first time against the Yellow Jackets all weekend and started off strong after Zarate led-off with a double and advanced to third following a sacrifice bunt. However, the offense was quickly stifled and silenced by Johnson to leave the go-ahead run stranded at third once more.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Georgia Tech kept their poise and took advantage of Azua’s late game issues, as a lead-off walk and wild pitch gave the Yellow Jackets the potential go-ahead run in scoring opportunity. Senior catcher Reese Hunter would deliver with a single into right that led to Georgia Tech taking the lead for good.
The scoring was capped off by senior second basemen Jayden Gailey, who smacked the first pitch deep into left field to ultimately give the Yellow Jackets a big enough gap to seal the victory. The Bobcats ended their time in the NCAA Tournament with a quiet 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh, sending Georgia Tech to the Gainesville Regional Final to rematch against the Florida Gators.
As for Texas State, they capped off their time in the Sun Belt Conference as one of three teams to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. While the roster going into next season will be missing the likes of crucial pieces like Coleman, Williams, Strood, Kelnar and more, the Bobcats will look to reload and carry this momentum into the 2027 season as they set to begin Pac-12 play for the first time.
