Woodard wins 800th game as Bobcats finish strong at Texas State Tournament

It was a historic weekend for Texas State to start the 2024 season as Head Coach Ricci Woodard captured her 800th career victory.

The Bobcats closed out the Texas State Tournament with a 5-1 record beating Kennesaw State on Friday night and both Southern Illinois and Creighton on Sunday.

“The relationships and the people I get to do this with every day [are the best part],” Woodard said. “If you win 800 games, you’ve been doing it a long time, and you’ve had a lot of people who have helped with that. I love the people that I get to go to work with every day. [Texas State] is just a fun place to be. Getting to play in front of Bobcat nation every day, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Texas State was in danger of not securing Woodard’s 800th win as the Bobcats trailed Kennesaw in the bottom of the sixth down 3-0.

A single by sophomore Megan Kelnar and a oneout bunt single by Ciera Trahan put runners on second and first.

With the game tying run at the plate, senior center fielder Piper Randolph belted a three-run home run into left-center field to tie the game at 3-3.

“I think that added a little bit to the game that we weren’t just fighting to get a win,” Randolph said. “But we were fighting for Coach Woodard. We wanted to help her get her 800th win, and I think that helped us tonight.”

Right fielder Ann Jones kept the inning alive with a one out single up the middle to put the game winning run on first base.

After a fly out, sophomore designated player Karmyn Bass came through in the clutch knocking a two-out double into left-center field to bring home Jones and give the Bobcats their first lead of the game at 4-3.

After senior pitcher Jessica Mullins closed the game out with a 1-2-3 inning to give the Bobcats the win, Bass’ late game heroics were not done just yet.

Following Texas State’s 3-1 win over Southern Illinois to avenge their loss to the Salukis on Saturday, the Bobcats were once again trailing this time to the Creighton Bluejays 4-1.

The Bobcats cut the lead down to 4-2 following a RBI double from third baseman Sara Vanderford but left the bases loaded to end the sixth inning.

Entering the seventh inning trailing 4-2, Texas State began their comeback with a lead-off walk from sophomore center fielder Sidney Harvey.

Following a bunt single by senior shortstop Hannah Earls to put runners on second and first, Trahan scored Harvey with a RBI single up the middle to make it a 4-3 game.

Despite the Bluejays opting to change pitchers, Bass once again pulled off the heroics connecting on a single into right field to score both Earls and Trahan as the Bobcats stunned Creighton 5-4.

“We all know how to come together at the end of the day,” Bass said. Obviously, there’s going to be hits here and there, but we know at the end of the day we’re going to be able to string the hits we need together.”

Texas State is back home for the TXST Tournament as the Bobcats host Sam Houston State Thursday night.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc