Texas State completes series shutout over Georgia Southern

Texas State completed a series shutout over the weekend, sweeping Georgia Southern at Bobcat Softball Stadium.

The team began the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, defeating the Eagles in the first game 7-0. Sophomore catcher Cat Crenek drove in a team-high two RBIs. Freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins (15-6) picked up the win allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out five in 6.1 innings of work.

“I thought we did a good job of just kind of keeping the momentum the whole day,” head coach Ricci Woodard said. “You know, I thought our pitchers did a great job all day today and that’s kind of the key to our success.”

The maroon and gold found themselves in a closer contest in the second game of the day but leaned on their pitching again to earn a 3-0 victory. Senior right-hander Dalilah Barrera (2-0) received the win giving up one hite and no walks while fanning four in 4.0 innings. Junior RHP Meagan King was credited with a save closing out the final 3.0 innings, striking out three and not allowing any runners on base.

“I think our pitchers did a good job of just attacking the zone,” Woodard said. “And then Georgia Southern, late in their at-bats, had to chase pitches. And that’s usually going to make pitchers more successful. So again, I think our pitchers did a good job of working ahead early and then just hitting our spots and I think our pitchers did a really good job of being aggressive early in the counts.”

Texas State closed out the series finale with a 1-0 win over the Eagles (11-25, 3-14 Sun Belt) on Sunday. Junior right fielder ArieAnn Bell scored the game-winning run, homering down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth. 

King pitched a complete shutout, surrendering three hits and no walks while ringing up a career-high 11 batters. The junior was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.

“I think I was just doing a good job of hitting the corners and keeping them off balance,” King said. “I think I was just able to work both up and down (in the strike zone) which I don’t really get to do a lot, so just being able to go up, down, left and right and be able to throw all my pitches felt really good.”

The Bobcats (30-9, 12-5) play in their final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday, hosting Houston Baptist (19-12, 12-9 Southland) at 5 p.m.