Texas State sweeps ACU in opening day doubleheader

Texas State came out like a team that hadn’t played in 347 days.

The maroon and gold were aggressive in every way on Monday, sweeping a doubleheader against Abilene Christian inside Bobcat Softball stadium, 6-0 and 6-2.

“I feel like it’s just been a lot, having to deal with COVID and stuff like that,” freshman second baseman Sara Vanderford said. “So I feel like this has just kind of given us an out from all of that. And even though it’s different wearing masks and trying to stay spread out, it’s still a team sport, you’re still doing something you love. So it just gets you away from everything else.”

Texas State rode freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins’ electric debut to take the first victory of the day. Mullins tossed a complete no-hitter, walking one batter, hitting three others with pitches and striking out 12.

The Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill graduate is the first freshman to throw a no-hitter since former Texas State ace Randi Rupp (2015-18) no-hit Houston Baptist on April 15, 2015, in five innings. It’s also the first time a freshman has thrown a seven-inning no-hitter since Rupp accomplished the feat against ULM on March 23, 2015.

“You know, she comes from the same high school as Randi Rupp and I think you get that same type of drive to be the best. And that’s what (Mullins) has,” head coach Ricci Woodard said. “So I think the circle kind of dictates our game and when you have that in the circle, it’s going to elevate everybody’s game, in my opinion.”

Freshman third baseman Baylee Lemons swung for the first hit of the season in the second inning by doubling down the right field line. Freshman designated player Hannah Earls bunted for a single in the next at-bat. Both players stole a base, allowing Lemons to cross home plate and get the hosts on the board, 1-0.

Two sacrifice flies by junior shortstop Tara Oltmann allowed freshman centerfielder Piper Randolph to score twice. Sophomore catcher Cat Crenek hit an RBI single to centerfield to score junior right fielder ArieAnn Bell. Lemons and Vanderford each launched solo home runs over the fence in the fifth and sixth frames, respectively, to secure the 6-0 win.

“I think we were all just being overly aggressive,” Oltmann said. “I mean, we haven’t been able to play in a while and I think we’re going up there looking to hit the ball. And I think that showed in a lot of our hits and at-bats. And a lot of our freshmen did good, too, so good for them.”

Woodard thought the team fell into a bit of a lull early in the second game, resulting in the Wildcats (2-4) picking up two runs in the top of the third. The Bobcats responded almost immediately, though. 

Crenek got on base with a single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth. Oltmann homered to left center to score both, tying the game up. Senior first baseman Hailey MacKay followed it up with another solo home run to take the lead.

Randolph scored on an error in the fifth and Vanderford swung for a 2-RBI home run in the sixth. Junior right-hander Meagan King closed out the final 4.2 innings with four hits, no runs and fanning one batter to win the game, 6-2, and complete the series sweep of ACU.

“We could have easily just, you know, lost energy in that second game and kind of lay down,” Oltmann said. “But we still swung the bats good, pitchers were doing good.”

The Bobcats (2-0) will face Texas (0-3) on Wednesday in Austin (0-3) at 5 p.m. Woodard hopes the team continues to display its resilience.

“I like the way we ran the bases, I like the way we swung the bats aggressively. Yeah, I don’t have too many negatives to come out of this except we need to do a little bit better job defensively along the way, but I think that’ll come.