Princeton’s Ivy League status is sure to be a talking point almost anytime the school is mentioned. Fortunately for Texas State, an Ivy League brain isn’t the be-all and end-all on the diamond.
Aiyana Coleman launched her fifth home run of the year, Maddy Azua picked up her fifth win of the season and the offense scored 12 runs on 13 hits to help Texas State Softball (11-4) bounce back from the loss against No. 5 Texas A&M and run-rule Princeton (2-5) 12-4 in six innings on Friday at Davis Diamond in College Station.
After a quiet first inning, Texas State began the scoring in the second. Two sacrifice flies in the second off of the bats of Mayson Garrett and Kate Bubela gave the Bobcats the early 2-0 lead. A shutdown inning from Azua sent Texas State back to the plate with momentum in hand.
The third inning is when the floodgates opened for the Bobcats. A single, double and a walk to the first three Bobcats batters of the inning loaded the bases with no outs. A third sac-fly off the bat of Megan Kelnar scored one. Shortly after, Erin Peterson stole second which allowed Karmyn Bass to score and make it 4-0 in favor of the Bobcats.
Later in the third, after Peterson had scored and with two runners on, Coleman put the exclamation mark on the big inning with a three-run shot to dead center, giving the Bobcats an 8-0 advantage. Texas State scored again in the fourth on an RBI double from Peterson, increasing the lead to 9-0.
Princeton managed to stay scrappy and in the game, however. A two-run homer in the fourth put the Tigers on the board. Two more runs came across in the fifth for the Tigers, cutting the Bobcats’ lead to 9-4.
9-4 was as close as it would get though, as the Bobcats put up a three-spot in the sixth to go up 12-4. Abigail Jennings kept the Tigers off the board in the home half of the sixth to complete the run-rule victory and move Texas State to 1-1 at the Texas A&M Invitational.
The Bobcats will return to the diamond on Saturday for a doubleheader against George Washington (7-4) and in-state foe Texas Tech (16-5).
It’s worth noting that Tech has what many analysts and people around the sport believe to be the best pitcher in the country in NiJaree Canady.
Canady was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American in 2024. She also led the country in ERA and K’s.
With former Louisiana and current Tech head coach Gerry Glasco’s history with the Bobcats, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him throw Canady Texas State’s way.
The first game of Texas State’s Saturday doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. against George Washington. Game two against Tech will follow immediately after.
