Outfielder Piper Randolph tries to steal home against Wichita State. Randolph was later determined to be out on the throw.
Daily Record Photo by Gerald Castillo
The review confirmed Outfielder Piper Randolph was out.
Daily Record Photo by Gerald Castillo
Texas State softball splits opening day games
Opening day for Texas State was an exciting one as the Bobcats split their first games of the season with a 3-2 loss to Wichita State and a 8-0 win over Kent State.
Overall, head coach Ricci Woodard was proud of her team’s performance in the first games of the year.
“I’m pretty pleased with the day,” Woodard said. “I thought we battled our tails off in the first game. We just misplayed a couple balls and probably made a base-running mistake at the end of the ballgame, but I thought it was a great ballgame. I have no complaints on the day at all. I think the girls swung the bats well, pitched well.”
In the first game of the season, Texas State squared off with the always formidable Wichita State Shockers.
The Shockers drew first blood as a two-run home run in the first inning gave Wichita State the early lead at 2-0.
Following two scoreless innings for the Bobcats, Texas State scored their first run of the season in the bottom of the third inning as senior third baseman Sara Vanderford hit a one-out RBI double to score Hannah Earls and cut the lead down to 2-1.
After a fly out towards left field, Texas State tied the game up at 2-2 as right fielder Anna Jones hit a two out RBI single to score Vanderford from second base.
Wichita State took advantage of a Bobcat mistake in the top of the fifth inning as a wild pitch allowed one run to score to give the Shockers a 3-2 lead.
Though Texas State had their chances, it wasn’t enough as the Shockers took the first at 3-2.
The Bobcats responded to the loss with a stellar performance against Kent State as Texas State pitched their first shutout of the season with an 8-0 win over Kent State.
Texas State kicked off the first inning in style as a RBI single by JJ Smith to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.
With one out and the bases loaded, freshman catcher Karmyn Bass cleared the bases with a three run RBI double to extend the lead at 4-0.
Vanderford then hit the first Bobcat homerun of the season with a leadoff homer towards left field to tack on another run at 5-0 before Texas State added three more in the bottom of the fourth inning to force the mercy rule against the Golden Flashes at 8-0.
Texas State returns to play Saturday with another showdown with Wichita State at 10 a.m. before playing Villanova at 12:30 p.m.
All games will have started before press release.
