Texas State wins opening rounds of Sun Belt tourney

No. 2 seed Texas State posted consecutive shutouts over No. 10 seed Georgia State and No. 6 seed UT Arlington in the opening rounds of the Sun Belt softball tournament in Troy, Ala.

The Bobcats and Panthers (16-29, 3-18 Sun Belt) kept each other scoreless through the first four innings of Wednesday night’s meeting. Georgia State, which upset No. 7 seed Georgia Southern, 4-1, in the play-in round of the tournament on Tuesday to earn its spot in the game, blinked first in the fifth inning. Junior designated player ArieAnn Bell hammered a solo home run to centerfield for the first score of the game.

“Well, during my first at bat, I was really worked up and not seeing the ball well,” Bell said in a statement. “So, when I went up there during my second at bat, I was focused on seeing the ball deep and just relaxing and it worked out for me.”

The maroon and gold added an insurance run in the next frame. Freshman centerfielder Piper Randolph came in to pinch hit for senior Marisa Cruz and got on base with an infield single. Randolph advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from junior shortstop Tara Oltmann, reached third on a wild pitch and crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly from freshman second baseman Sara Vanderford.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins, in her first collegiate postseason start, finished off the Panthers in the seventh, 2-0, for the complete-game shutout and her 20th win of the year. Mullins finished the night giving up three hits and two walks while fanning six.

“Whenever I took the field, I just knew I had to go out there and do my job, because I knew my team would have my back,” Mullins said. “Ultimately, in the end, they did their job and I did mine.”

“I thought we came out a little flat and that's an indication of you playing not to lose — in my opinion — and, like I told the team after the game, we were kind of playing in the same boat as (Georgia State) in that we don't have anything to lose either, so let's just loosen up and play the game,” head coach Ricci Woodard added.

Texas State moved on to the next round against the Mavericks (17-33, 9-14), who upset No. 3 seed Troy, 2-1, on Wednesday. Randolph led the game off with a triple to centerfield that bounced off the glove of UTA’s right fielder. Junior right fielder Kylie George grounded out to first base in the next at-bat, allowing Randolph to reach home and give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. 

George scored in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Vanderford. Oltmann added another run in the sixth, stealing home on a wild pitch. Bell tacked on one more in the seventh with a solo home run that glanced one of the flag poles behind the centerfield fence — she’s now tied with Katie Ann Trahan (2003-06) for second on the program's all-time home run list with 29 in her career.

Meagan King (11-3) sealed the 4-0 win with another complete-game shutout, holding the Mavericks to two hits while striking out two and throwing just 75 pitches.

“We just really wanted to come out and get this win today to put us in a good spot for the rest of the tournament,” King said. “I think getting UTA to chase my pitches really worked for me today. I was working the zone instead of leaving it up there for them. I was able to work down and throw what I wanted to.”

“I thought we did a good job of being efficient all the way around, both offensively and defensively,” Woodard said. “I thought our slappers did a good job and being more efficient in doing what they do. Then, obviously, our middle of the lineup did a good job today as well.” 

Texas State (38-10, 17-6) now advances to the third round of the winners’ bracket, matching up with No. 1 seed Louisiana (42-10, 21-3) on Friday at 10 a.m. The winning team will go on to the championship game slated for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The defeated team will look to stay alive in the final round of the losers’ bracket on Saturday at 11 a.m.