Homers And Strikeouts Lead Bobcats Past Incarnate Word

UP NEXT: Texas State opens Sun Belt Conference play starting Saturday, March 11 at league newcomer Coastal Carolina. The Bobcats and Chanticleers are scheduled for a noon (CT) and 2:00 p.m.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State hitters clobbered four home runs and starting pitcher Randi Rupp struck out 10 of 14 batters faced as the Bobcats defeated Incarnate Word 11-2 Wednesday evening.

The Bobcats (14-4) pounded out a season-high 11 hits, including eight for extra bases. Ariel Ortiz finished a single shy of the cycle as she tripled in the first, then homered and doubled in the fourth. Also collecting round-trippers for the Bobcats were Christiana McDowell, Jaelyn Young and Taylor Webb. In all, nine Bobcats recorded base hits.

 Rupp struck the side in the first and second inning on her way to her fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season. The junior worked 4.0 innings, surrendering only two singles, to improve to 9-2 on the season.

 Texas State got on the board first in the home half of the first as McDowell, who reached with a one-out walk, scored on Ortiz’s triple to right-center field.

Young and Corrina Liscano then reached on hit by pitches, but were stranded as UIW’s Bridget Stein escaped the inning with a strikeout and pop-up to short right field.

 After stranding two runners in the second, Webb made it 3-0 in the Bobcats’ favor two batters into the third with her fifth home run of the season. The blast, which easily cleared the 225-foot marker in center, scored Young, who had led off the frame with a walk.

In the fourth McDowell, Ortiz and Young hit back-to-back-to-back solo homers for a 6-0 TXST lead. McDowell’s line-drive shot to left was her second of the season, Ortiz’s was her sixth and Young’s her team-leading seventh. Webb, Liscano and Kennedy Cline followed with singles to increase the Bobcats’ lead to 7-0.

Texas State added four more runs in the inning via Bailee Carter and Ortiz doubles, bringing the inning’s total to eight and the score line to 11-0.

Incarnate Word’s Kristin Herbert provided the final 11-2 score with her two-run home run off reliever Jodi Paige Williams in the top of the fifth.

The Cardinal’s Stein (0-4) suffered the loss, giving up 11 hits and nine earned runs.