Bobcat Softball Falls To Northern Illinois Sunday Afternoon

TexasState Athletics – The Texas State softball team wrapped up the Hampton Inn & Suites Tournament Sunday afternoon with an 8-3 loss to Northern Illinois. The Bobcats finished the tournament with a 3-2 overall record.

 
Freshman Sara Rupp made her mark on the Bobcat scoreboard Sunday afternoon as she hit her first collegiate home run in her first at bat of the contest. Rupp connected on a 2-2 pitch, sending it over the right centerfield fence to give Texas State a 3-2 lead over the visiting Huskies. It would ultimately prove to be the only inning in which the Bobcats would put runs up on the board.
 

The Bobcats found themselves in a hole early prior to Rupp’s home run as Northern Illinois scored a run in each of the first two innings. The game was led off with a triple in the gap to right center by Bryanna Phelan of the Huskies.
 

After a scoreless third, Northern Illinois tacked on three more on three hits including a two-run home run to take a 5-3 lead over the Bobcats in the fourth.
 

Texas State had the opportunities to get those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, but ultimately stranded two.
 

As the game played out, Texas State struggled to move runners around as it left a pair of runners on in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings consecutively. The Bobcats recorded two hits in the three combined innings and made contact in all but one out in that span.
 

Freshman Ariel Ortiz continued her hot bat Sunday afternoon as she added two to her already team-high 11 hit total. In addition to getting on the base paths by way of a single and a double, Ortiz picked up a pair of walks to successfully get on base in all four at bats for the day.
 

Randi Rupp came away with her second loss of the season while putting in seven innings of work in the circle with nine strikeouts and just three walks.
 

Joining Ortiz and Sara Rupp with hits were Kelli Baker, Kendall Wiley, Courtney Harris andBianca Prado. The Bobcats struck out just four times on the afternoon.  
 

Texas State will now take the week off from action before hosting the CenturyLink Classic next weekend. First pitch against Grand Canyon is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. The Bobcats will also be hosting Texas Tech for three games and UTSA in an I-35 rivalry match-up. Live stats, live audio, live video, and a tournament central page will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.