Texas State Softball Celebrates Senior Day With Victory Over UT Arlington

by Jen Lawson

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team ended the regular season on a high note by defeating UT Arlington in five innings by a score of 8-0. At the conclusion of the game, the Bobcats recognized its three seniors, Kelli Baker, Kendall Wiley, and Ashley Wright for their effort and service to the Texas State softball team.

With the series sweep, Texas State has locked in the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Bobcats will play at 5:30 p.m. in Mobile, Ala. against the winner of the No. 6/No. 7 game.

The Bobcats improved to 36-18 overall and 15-9 in Sun Belt Conference play.

All three seniors contributed in the win Saturday afternoon. Baker had two RBIs on the day while Wright scored on Wiley’s ground rule double to end the game.

Ariel Ortiz shined as she knocked out two balls including Texas State’s first grand slam of the season. The Bobcats finished the day with seven hits while allowing just three by UT Arlington.

Randi Rupp earned her 26^th victory of the season against UT Arlington and finished the regular season just one shy of the nation’s leader in strikeouts with 293. Her 293 strikeouts matches her strikeout total from her freshman campaign.

WHO STOOD OUT

Ariel Ortiz / SS / Sophomore / Waxahachie, Texas

Ortiz hit two home runs in a day where she finished 3-for-3 from the plate for Texas State with five RBIs. The sophomore shortstop hit the Bobcats first grand slam this season and backed that up with another home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. She now has five home runs this season, four of which were hit in conference play.

Kelli Baker / 2B / Senior / Atascocita, Texas

Baker recorded two RBIs on senior day after walking with the bases loaded and hitting a sacrifice fly to right field to score Kayleigh Norte. Baker also scored to account for one of the eight Bobcat runs on the day.

Kendall Wiley / 1B / Senior / Austin, Texas

Wiley went 1-for-3 on Senior Day including the ground rule double in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the victory for Texas State. The run batted in was Wiley’s 105^th career RBI.

Ashley Wright / OF / Senior / Huntington, Texas

In a pinch hit situation, Wright drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth inning. A wild pitch during Taylor Webb’s at bat advanced Wright to second before she would come around and score on Wiley’s ground rule double to center.

SCORING

Bottom 2^nd – Texas State strung together a walk by Sara Rupp and singles by Jaelyn Young and Bianca Prado to load the bases for Kelli Baker. Baker then walked to bring in the first run of the day. With the bases still loaded and two outs, Ariel Ortiz launched a grand slam to give Texas State a 5-0 lead. (5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

Bottom 4^th – A double by Young led off the inning. Kayleigh Norte came in to pinch run and promptly advanced to third after a deep fly ball to right by Prado. Norte came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Baker. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

Bottom 5^th – Ortiz led the inning off with a solo home run to make it 7-0 Bobcats. Ashley Wright came in to pinch hit with no outs and drew a six pitch walk. After a wild pitch sent her to second, she scored on the ground rule double by Kendall Wiley. (2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

NOTES:

• Randi Rupp threw her 18^th complete game and ninth shutout of the season. Rupp shutout the Mavericks in both appearances this weekend as she improves to 26-10 on the year.
• Texas State has now won the last six straight contests against UT Arlington.
• The Bobcats have won 11 out of the last 12 conference games including the last nine straight.
• Texas State is 12-3 in its last 15 games.
• This is the second time in a row that the Bobcats have earned the No. 3 seed in the SBC Tournament. Texas State will play at minimum two games at the conference tournament due to earning the first round bye.

NEXT UP:

Texas State will travel to Mobile, Ala. to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday evening. The Bobcats will play the winner of the No. 6/No. 7 game at 5:30 p.m. A tournament central page can be found at www.sunbeltsports.org. A complete preview of the tournament will be published Tuesday at www.txstatebobcats.com.