Texas State shines in regular season finale, earns All-Sun Belt awards

Texas State enters this week’s Sun Belt softball tournament riding high, sweeping UT Arlington over the weekend in the regular season finale and collecting multiple postseason awards on Monday.

The Bobcats run-ruled the Mavericks in five innings in the series opener on Thursday, 8-0. Freshman second baseman Sara Vanderford hit her 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to put the maroon and gold up 3-0. Junior pinch hitter Samara Lagway concluded the game with a walk-off RBI single to right field in the fifth.

“This week we’ve focused a lot on going back to the basics of hitting and so I feel like that showed,” Vanderford said. “And I just feel like balls were jumping off our bat a lot better and I felt more confident in the box and I think the team did as well.”

“This is a team sport so like when we play for each other, we’re 10 times better,” Lagway said.

Texas State earned another win inside Bobcat Softball Stadium on Friday, edging out UTA, 2-1. The hosts went on to clinch the sweep on Saturday, winning 4-2 on Senior Day. For fifth-year seniors Dalilah “Pudge” Barrera and Hailey MacKay, it was the last time they’d get to play at home.

“It’s really bittersweet. Like, I’m feeling a mix of emotions,” Barrera said. “But I’m just so happy that I got to play with these girls and for this program.”

“I’m not going to look back and remember the home runs or the strikeouts,” MacKay said. “I’m gonna remember the people and how they pushed me to be better.”

South Alabama defeated Troy later on Saturday afternoon securing the Bobcats the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Texas State will get a bye to the second round and face the winner of No. 7 seed Georgia Southern and No. 10 seed Georgia State. The maroon and gold swept both teams in the regular season this year.

Vanderford and freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins took the final Sun Belt weekly Player of the Week awards Monday morning. Later in the afternoon, Vanderford was named the league’s Freshman of the Year and joined Mullins and junior shortstop Tara Oltmann on the all-conference First Team.

Junior outfielder ArieAnn Bell and RHP Meagan King were both selected to the All-Sun Belt Second Team.

“What a great honor to have five players named to the (Sun Belt) All-Conference team,” head coach Ricci Woodard said in a statement. “Three of these players will get to end their stellar careers with this great honor, while two are just getting their careers started.  

“I couldn’t be prouder of these five young ladies and the season they have put together to help this team finish second in a very tough Sun Belt Conference.”

The Bobcats return to action in the second round of the league tournament Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Troy.

“We’ve got a couple of days to rest, I think that’s probably what this group needs more than anything right now, and so that’ll be nice,” Woodard said after Saturday’s win. “You know, we’ll get on the road on Monday and the good part is we’re familiar with Troy, we just were there a week ago and that probably will help this group, too. But you know we gotta go in there hungry to win a tournament. That’s what we just talked about is we gotta go in hungry, not just go in there to play.”