By Randy Stevens
Sports Editor
San Marcos — The Texas State softball team is starting to show why the Bobcats were preseason favorites to win the Southland Conference title.
After a slow start to the season, the Bobcats improved to 4-1 in SLC play with a doubleheader sweep of Sam Houston State Saturday afternoon.
Texas State scored a 4-2 win in the first game and a 6-2 victory in game two.
The Bobcats grabbed a quick lead in the first game with three runs in the bottom of the third and never trailed.
Haley Lemons drove in the first run with a RBI off a fielder’s choice, while Jenna Emery came through with a 2-run single.
The Bearkats tried to claw back with a pair of runs off Bobcat starter Chandler Hall in the top of the third . But Hall was able to fend off the threat and keep State in the lead when she got Amy Brown to pop up for the third out of the inning.
The Bobcats added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth, as Hall (5-5) stifled the Bearkat bats the remainder of the way. Hall went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts.
Morgan Mikulin (2-8) suffered the loss on the mound for the Bearkats.
Sam Houston took the early lead in game two with a run in the second and third innings, before the Bobcats battled back thanks to a 2-RBI single by Megan Parten with no outs.
Kristina Tello then came through with the first of two, 2-RBI triples in the game, this one laced to right-center field.
Tello’s second triple of the game allowed he Bobcats (7-11, 4-1 SLC) to post two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, driving in runners from second and third.
The Bobcats then took advantage of a double play and a foul out in the top of the ninth to hold on for the win.
Anne Marie Taylor (2-4) picked up the win on the mound for the Bobcats, going the distance while allowing seven hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and a walk.
Sam Houston’s Tomi Garrison (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched.
The two teams will close out the three-game series today with noon game at Bobcat Field.
