SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State loaded the bases in the ninth thanks to two singles and a muffed play at third to set the stage for Jaelyn Young's walk-off single to left as the Bobcats downed Texas 2-1 in front of 903 spectators Wednesday evening at Bobcat Softball Stadium.
 
The win, which was TXST's first season sweep of the Longhorns since the 2000 season, is the Bobcats third straight against UT and moves the squad's overall record to 26-8. UT falls to 20-15 on the season.
 
Bailee Carter singled to right, giving the Bobcats a runner on base with one out in the ninth. Kimberlin Naivar then legged out an infield single to put two runners on base. Christiana McDowell followed with a fielder's choice to third that was misplayed by the UT fielder to load the bases. Two batters later Young sent Paige von Sprecken's 1-2 offering to the grass in left for her first walk-off hit of the season.
 
Randi Rupp earned the victory in the circle for the Bobcats. The junior threw nine complete and struck out seven, while scattering five Longhorn hits. It took Rupp just three batters into the game to collect her first strikeout and thus her 800 career strikeout. Rupp becomes just the fourth Bobcat in program history to record 800-plus career strikeouts, joining Nicole Neuerberg (1,019), Chandler Hall (834) and Katie Ann Trahan (809).
 
Texas put runners on first and second with two down in the second inning, but a sharp liner to Corrina Liscano at third ended the Longhorn threat and kept the game scoreless. The Bobcats also got baserunners to first and second in the second inning as Young singled to left center and Kennedy Cline walked, but like her counterpart in the circle, UT starter Erica Wright stranded both runners.
 
The Bobcats got on the scoreboard first, scoring one in the home half of the third. Carter led off the frame with a single to center, moved to second on Naivar's sacrifice bunt and came home on McDowell's RBI single to right field. The RBI was McDowell's 11th of the season, while the run scored was Carter's 16th.
 
Texas State threatened to add to its lead in the fourth as Liscano started the inning with a bloop single to left, took second on a wild pitch and third on a Taylor Webb sac bunt. Cline then walked to put runners on the corners with one out. However, UT's Brooke Bolinger – the Longhorns' third hurler of the evening – escaped the jam with consecutive foul outs.
 
Texas took advantage of two Bobcat errors to tie the game 1-1 in the sixth. UT's Taylor Ellsworth reached and took second on a dropped pop fly that rolled into the UT dugout. Pinch runner Bekah Alcozer came around to score on the next pitch as Tiarra Davis's single to left was mishandled.
 
UT's Tuesday DerMargosian ran the Longhorns out of the seventh inning as she was thrown out at home by TXST's Liscano. DerMargosian hit an infield single and was sacrificed over to second. After Rupp fanned her sixth Longhorn, Devon Tunning hit a sharp ball to short that was mishandled. Liscano scooped up the ball and fired home to catch DerMargosian at the plate.
 
Texas State again put runners on the corners in the eighth, but UT's von Sprecken stranded both.
 
UT's von Specken was saddled with the loss on the staff day, falling to 5-3 on the season. All five pitchers on the Texas staff saw time in the circle.


 
BOBCATS GO4THEGOAL BY LACING UP FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER AWARENESS
Texas State and Texas supported the Go4theGoal organization by participating in Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer games. Both programs wore gold shoe laces in support of the initiative. Fans wore gold to the games and donated $818 to Go4theGoal's mission of improving the lives of children battling cancer by providing financial support, developing and implementing unique hospital programs, funding innovative research and granting personal wishes. For more information, visit GO4THEGOAL.ORG.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State travels to South Alabama for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series starting Saturday, April 8. The Bobcats and Jaguars are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. (CT) and 3:00 p.m. (CT) doubleheader on Saturday and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT).
 
FOLLOW THE BOBCATS
For all of the latest news and information on Bobcat softball, visit TXSTATEBOBCATS.com. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TXStateSoftball along on Twitter (@TXStateSoftball) and Instagram (@TXStateSoftball).
 
-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --
 

FOUR-RUN FOURTH SPARKS JAGUAR SOFTBALL RALLY OVER SOUTHERN MISS

MOBILE, Ala. – Trailing by three runs, the University of South Alabama softball team scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning to rally back and pick up a 4-3 win over Southern Mississippi Wednesday night at Jaguar Field.

"I think the biggest thing for us tonight was the play of our defense," South Alabama head coach Becky Clark said. "I thought the defense really got the job done. Devin [Brown] struggled a little bit in the circle for us tonight and missed some spots. The defense though really stepped up and made some plays for us, when we needed a big play."

South Alabama (24-12, 6-7 SBC) will now host Texas State in a three-game Sun Belt series this weekend. The Jaguars and the Bobcats will open up with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 8 (1 / 3 p.m.) and then close out the series on Sunday, April 9 with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

The come-back win marks the second time in the Jaguars' last three games that USA has rallied back to win after trailing by three runs. The win also extended South's current win-streak to five games.

Kristian Foster paced the Jags at the plate as she was 2-for-3 – her 10th multi-hit performance of the spring, while she also added two RBI – her eighth multi-RBI game. Foster has now driven in 16 in her last 14 games.

Also recording a hit for South Alabama in the win were Kaleigh Todd, Megan Harris, Savanna Mayo and Abby Krzywiecki. Todd, Mayo and Krzywiecki also scored a run, while the latter and Harris also drove in a run.

Devin Brown (13-6) won her fourth-straight decision and went the distance – her 15th complete game of the season. In her seven innings of work, Brown allowed three runs on nine hits, while striking out nine.

Southern Mississippi (19-19) was led at the plate by Chase Nelson and Tori Dew, who were each 2-for-4 on the night. Lauren Holifield recorded two RBI in the loss.

Samantha Robles fell to 4-7 with the loss. In her six innings, Robles allowed four runs on six hits, while walking four and striking out four.

After the Jags left a pair on in the first, the Golden Eagles threatened the next half inning, loading the bases with one out after a pair of singles and a walk, but Brown was able to get Heather Hill looking and Rachel Johnson swinging to end the threat.

Southern Miss broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third when Holiman belted her eighth home run of the season over the left-center field wall to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead. The one-out two-run shot came on a 0-2 pitch from Brown and scored Nelson who had singled one batter earlier.

USM added to and extend its lead to 3-0 with a run in the fourth. Johnson singled back up the middle with two outs after being down 0-2 in the count and then came around to score one batter later on Reynolds' RBI double to left. Reynolds' double came on a flare to left that got over the drawn in South Alabama defensive alignment.

South Alabama loaded the bases for the second-straight inning and after leaving five on through the first three, the Jaguars put up a four spot in the fourth to take their first lead of the contest. Mayo led the inning off as she lined a single to right and then came around to score USA's first run of the evening on Krzywiecki's double to left.

After a strikeout, South loaded the bases on a walk to Nichols – her second of the game – and then a single to left by Todd, which extended her reached-base safely streak to 15 games. Harris then drove in the second run of the inning with a ground out to first, scoring Krzywiecki. Foster then put USA out in front as she lined Robles' 0-1 offering to left, plating Todd and Nichols to give the Jaguars a 4-3 advantage.

Over the final two innings, the Golden Eagles would have an excellent pair of scoring opportunities, but Brown's pitching and the Jaguar defense would come up big.

With one out in the sixth, USM's Arielle Pollock tripled to the wall in right to sit in scoring position. Brown though recorded her eighth strike out of the evening getting pinch hitter Bailey Stokes swinging. The junior righty was helped out by her defense on the next play as Foster snagged a liner behind the bag at third that looked as if it were going to drop in off the bat of Johnson to end the frame.

Southern Miss then placed runners at first and second with nobody out after Reynolds walked on five pitches to lead things off and Nelson's infield single. Brown though was able to get Holifield to pop out to second for the first out and then Harris made a shoe-string grab in right on a sinking liner by Dew for the second out. Brown then got pinch hitter Jade Lewis swinging to end the game and clinch the one-run victory.

—USA—

Softball Completes Season Sweep of Northwestern State

Natchitoches, La. - The ULM softball team used an offensive explosion late to get by in-state foe Northwestern State 6-2 in midweek action at Northwestern State on Wednesday night.

TURNING POINT

-Tied at 1-1, Hunter Hogan connected on a two-run homer in the top of the sixth that gave the Warhawks a lead they would never relinquish, as they went on to add three final runs in the seventh.

NOTABLES

-The Warhawks were led by Samantha Agamaite and Jayden Mount with two hits apiece, with Agamaite driving in the Warhawks first RBI of the game in the opening frame. Sydney McKay added a hit in the contest while Hogan and Melanie Coyne added a hit apiece as well.

-Coyne pitched another complete game on Wednesday as she picked up her 13th win on the season. Coyne gave up two earned runs and four hits while striking out three. Offensively, Coyne also had a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning that gave the Warhawks breathing room.

-The win completed the Warhawks' three-game sweep of the Lady Demons this season after ULM had previously won on February 12 and February 22, both in Monroe.

UP NEXT

-The Warhawks step back into SBC play beginning on Saturday when they begin a three-game series against Appalachian State, with the doubleheader against the Mountaineers beginning at 1:00 p.m. from Geo-Surfaces Field.