TXST SOFTBALL
When sophomore third baseman Kate Bubela came up to the plate against Missouri State on Saturday, the transfer from North Carolina faced bases loaded with the Bobcats up 1-0 over the Bears.
With a chance to put an exclamation point on the series, Bubela found the pitch she was looking for after a fierce battle at the plate.
“I was just trying to look for the ball in a good spot for my barrel and do something for the team,” Bubela said. “The whole thing is barrel to the ball. That’s what I tried to do and it happened.”
Bubela crushed the ball over the fence to the railroad tracks for the grand slam as part of a six-run first inning.
Later the Bobcats scored four more runs in the sixth inning to complete both the 10-2 win and the three-game series sweep of Missouri State.
While Head Coach Ricci Woodard was happy to see her team get the sweep but also being able to field many players who normally don’t get to see the field.
“It’s nice to be able to get some different kids going this weekend,” Woodard said. That’s the highlight of the weekend for me was that we did enough to be able to play everybody and give us a chance to kind of get our bats going early. The pitchers did a great job as usual. This is a matter of us finding our groove going into conference [play].”
Starting play on Friday in a doubleheader, the Bobcats showed off why their pitching staff is one of the more dominant units in the conference.
In Game 1, sophomore starting pitcher Madison Azua and junior closer Analisa Soliz combined to throw a one-hit shutout in the Bobcats 3-0 win over the Bears. Immediately following Game 1, junior starter Emma Strood tossed a one-hit shutout through five innings in the Bobcats 9-0 win over Missouri State.
“They’re just attacking the strike zone,” Woodard said. “When your team gets way ahead, that’s hard to do, and so I thought they just did a good job of all three of them pitching and sticking with just competing one pitch at a time tonight.”
After playing on the road for the first time this season, Strood was happy to be back home in San Marcos while being backed up by her defense.
“I was super excited to be back at home and my defense was electric tonight,” Strood said following the Bobcats 9-0 win. “That just fed me to keep going and they were unreal tonight, so I’m just excited that we finally picked it back up from last week.”
The one-two punch in the rotation also allows both starters not be pressured to carry the pitching staff.
“It’s just great that we’re able to rely on each other and not just have one person trying to do it all,” Azua said. “The fact that we can work together is just amazing.”
Texas State will be back home Friday to start conference play with the Bobcats hosting the App State Mountaineers in a three-game series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
