Bobcats sweep Thundering Herd close out regular season

Texas State wrapped up the regular season with a three game sweep of the Marshall Thundering Herd, ending with a 5-0 shutout win.

Texas State finishes the regular season with a 4213 overall record and second in the Sun Belt standings.

“It’s nice to go out and finish this part of the season like we did today,” Head Coach Ricci Woodard said. “Tori McCann threw a great game. We played great defense all the way through. We got some timely hitting and some timely baserunning. I think to finish things the way we did today, I was pretty excited going into [the] postseason.”

Texas State was boosted by the performance of starting pitcher Tori Mc-Cann on the weekend she was honored for Senior Day.

In her first start since February against Creighton, McCann threw a complete game shutout allowing only two hits and three walks.

“I was feeling good,” McCann said. “I knew my team had my back. I knew we were going to get hits. It was just about keeping the ball low. I knew they were going to swing the bats, so I just let my defense work.”

Despite her struggles throughout the season, Woodard was proud of the senior pitcher for closing out the game in the manner of how it was done.

“That just shows the character of Tori Mc-Cann,” Woodard said. “To have sat the bench all year and had not been real productive when she had the chance then to come out and throw a game like this. I could not have been more proud.”

After being locked in a scoreless draw during the first two innings, the Bobcats scored their first runs of the game in the third inning.

Texas State put runners on first and second following a forced walk by second baseman Katarina Zarate and a hit by pitch by catcher Megan Hall. Shortstop Hannah Earls moved the baserunners up a base following a sacrifice bunt.

Zarate scored the first run for the Bobcats, taking home plate on a passed ball and giving Texas State a 1-0 lead. Hall, on the same play, moved to third base.

Left fielder Sidney Harvey scored Hall on the fielder’s choice, extending the lead to 2-0.

Texas State added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

With runners on the corners, designated player Karmyn Bass hit an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game. A Marshall throwing error on the next atbat led to two more runs coming across for the Bobcats.

Texas State enters the Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the two seed and will play at 7 p.m. Thursday night against the winner of Georgia Southern and Marshall.

All games of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be played at Bobcat Softball Stadium in San Marcos.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc