In a game that wasn’t originally on Texas State’s opening day schedule, the Bobcats (29-16) went to battle with the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (42-4) and came out on top 3-0 Wednesday night in front of a sold-out Bobcat Softball Stadium crowd.
Coming into Tuesday’s contest, Texas Tech run-ruled 69% of its opponents so far this season and had outscored its opponents 449-82. Unfortunately for Tech, those numbers didn’t matter and the only thing that did was the fact that junior Maddy Azua was in the circle for the Bobcats.
Azua completely stymied the explosive Red Raider offense, throwing a complete game shutout, only allowing five hits on the night en route to her 20th win of the season.
“Maddy Azua, I can’t say enough great things about the game she just threw,” Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard said. “She’s been fun to watch all year. I would match her up against anyone in the country.”
Countering Azua was Nijaree Canady. Canady, seen by many as perhaps the best pitcher in the country, racked up award after award in 2025. She was the Big 12 and D1 Softball Pitcher of the Year in 2025 and a top 3 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
Canady looked the part in the first three innings of gameplay, as she mowed down the Texas State order. That all changed when the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, Aiyana Coleman, came to the plate. Coleman took a Canady fastball and sent it deep over the centerfield wall to give Texas State a 1-0 lead.
The next inning, senior Megan Kelnar added an insurance run with an RBI single.
The Bobcats scratched one more run in the fifth on a fake steal of second base. A bobble on the throw down by Tech allowed sophomore Mel Reeves to scamper home on the deke, giving Texas State a 3-0 lead after five.
From there, Azua finished off the last six outs, giving the Bobcats their third top-25 win of the season and handing Tech only its fourth loss of the year.
“[Winning] this game is a great feeling,” Kelnar said. “This really shows the work we have put in at practice and how we have been able to simplify the game; we all bought in.”
Texas State will look to build off the momentum created from this win when Southern Miss rolls into town for a weekend series.
First pitch of game one between the Bobcats and Golden Eagles is set for 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The game will be streaming on ESPN+.
