Bobcats blast Troy to open conference

No. 23 Texas State defeated the Troy Trojans 9-1 via run-rule to start the three game conference series. 

The Bobcats, who improved to 31-9 overall, jumped out to an 8-0 lead and didn’t look back before scoring the game winning run in the fifth inning.

“We have competed with Troy for the past few years,” right fielder Anna Jones said. “They are very good so we came out with the mindset of attacking them early which we did. We sat on some good pitches and we put the bat on the ball.”

Following a scoreless first inning, Texas State struck first maintaining their ideology of being the ones to throw the first punch. 

Leading off to start the second, first baseman J.J. Smith connected with a solo homerun giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. 

Troy had an opportunity to tie the game with a runner to third base and two outs. But pitcher Jessica Mullins forced the flyout to left field which was caught by Sidney Harvey to end the scoring threat. 

In the next at-bat, shortstop Hannah Earls reached on an infield single before stealing second. 

After moving to first base following a fielder’s choice by Piper Randolph, Earls scored on a Troy fielding error from the at-bat of third baseman Sara Vanderford. Vanderford moved to second on the same play. 

Jones then hit the Bobcats second homer of the day with a two-run shot into left center field giving Texas State a 4-0 lead. 

Designated player Karmyn Bass kept the momentum going with an RBI double before moving to first on a wild pitch. 

A walk by Smith put runners on the corners before Bass scored on the fielder's choice by second baseman Katarina Zarate putting Texas State up 5-0. 

The Bobcats kept up the scoring fest in the bottom of the fourth inning when Earls reached on an infield single before advancing to third base on a Troy throwing error. 

Earls scored on the fielder’s choice by Randolph extending the lead to 6-0. 

A walk by Vanderford led to another run for the Bobcats as the third baseman scored on yet another Troy error during Jones’ at-bat who advanced to third on the same play. 

Jones scored on a Bass RBI single up the middle to make it a 8-0 game. 

Troy avoided the shutout by hitting a solo homer  in the top of the fifth inning but the Bobcats were ready to end the game early.

Singles by Harvey and Earls put runners on first and second with no outs. 

Randolph hit a fielder’s choice as Troy looked to get the forceout at third base. 

But a throwing error by Troy allowed Harvey to score and end the game via the run-rule for the Bobcats winning 9-1. 

“We did a lot of things well,” Head Coach Ricci Woodard said. “We put a lot of pressure on [Troy] to make the plays. This is what this team does really well.”

Texas State looks for the series win tomorrow against Troy. 

First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Bobcat Softball Stadium.