College Softball: Seven suspended, two indefinitely

Texas State is known to get off to some bad starts. Last year, the Bobcats went 1-5 in their first six games and only scored 12 runs in the process.

Well, what happened before the 2013 season began raised the bar to a new height.

Prior to its trip to the Hilton Houston Plaza Classic last weekend, Texas State suspended seven players due to “violations of team rules.” Two of those players, who remain unnamed, were suspended indefinitely.

“It’s unfortunate, but we’re prepared to move forward,” Bobcat head coach Ricci Woodard said. “Five will return.”

Texas State struggled in last weekend’s tournament as it dropped each of its five games. Even though the Bobcats belted three home runs in those games, their pitching staff allowed 29 runs.

“We’ve had bad starts before: this has been talked about,” Woodard said. “We swung the bats well, but we need to pitch better.”

Missing from the box scores of last weekend’s tournament were: sophomore outfielder Ali Akina, sophomore utility Brittney Garcia, sophomore third baseman Courtney Harris, senior second baseman Anna Hernandez, sophomore shortstop Selena Hernandez, junior utility Timishia North and junior pitcher Delia Saucedo.

Losing one, or both, of the Hernandezes — for any amount of time — could truly hurt Texas State. The duo combined to make 111 out of a possible 112 starts in 2012 and were among the team leaders in several offensive categories, including batting average, hits, home runs, slugging percentage and walks.

The Bobcats head to Lafayette, La. this weekend for the 27th Louisiana Classic.