TXST Softball Rallies In Late Innings For First SBC Tournament Victory

by, Jen Lawson

MOBILE, Ala. – The game-tying home run in the seventh and the game-winning walk in the bottom of the eighth by Jaelyn Young helped lift the No. 3 seed Texas State softball team to a 3-2 victory over No. 6 Troy Wednesday evening. This is the first Sun Belt Conference Tournament victory for Texas State since joining the league in the 2013-14 season.

“One of the things that I have really enjoyed about this team in the last month or so is that they just keep at it and they have that fight in them,” said head coach Ricci Woodard. “When you can hang in there when you’re not doing things the way you want early in the game and still make it happen, it shows you have a team that is confident about what they are doing right now and that’s fun to watch.”

Young took the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh over the fence in left field to tie the game at 2-all against the Trojans. The Bobcats then drew four-straight walks in the bottom of the eighth inning to take game one against Troy.

The Trojans broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth inning with a single to right after a double to center led off the inning. Troy then hit a solo home run in the sixth to take a 2-0 lead over the Bobcats.

Texas State clawed back in the later innings as six of the eight Bobcat hits came in the sixth and seventh.

Randi Rupp threw all eight innings for the Bobcats and seven Texas State players registered hits in the victory.

WHO STOOD OUT

Jaelyn Young / DP / Sophomore / Murrieta, Calif.

With one out and a 0-0 count, Young sent the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to tie the ball game at 2-2. It was her third home run of the season. Then, in the bottom of the eighth with no outs and bases loaded, Young drew a five-pitch walk-off walk to give Texas State its first Sun Belt Conference Tournament victory in school history.

Corrina Liscano / 3B / Junior / Pomona, Calif.

After having two hard hit balls right to Troy defenders, Liscano registered her first hit of the day in the bottom of the sixth inning. She came around to score from third on a double by Taylor Webb to cut the Trojan lead down to one, 2-1.

Taylor Webb / RF / Sophomore / Richmond, Texas

Webb registered the one-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to score Liscano who was standing on first. She also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth after drawing a four-pitch walk to lead off the eighth. Webb finished the game with two walks.

Randi Rupp / P / Sophomore / Mont Belvieu, Texas

Rupp won her 27^th game of the season after pitching the complete game for Texas State. In 8.0 innings pitched, Rupp struck out 10 batters for her 11^th double-digit strikeout game of the year. She did not allow a single walk and only allowed five hits.

SCORING

Top 5^th – A double by Amanda Winters led the inning off for the Trojans. She came around to score on a single to right field. (1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 left on base)

Top 6^th – A solo home run by Becca Hartley with one out lifted Troy to a 2-0 lead. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)

Bottom 6^th – With two outs, Corrina Liscano singled through the left side for her first hit of the ball game. In the next at bat, Taylor Webb doubled to left center and Liscano came all the way from first to score. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)

Bottom 7^th – Jaelyn Young hit a solo home run to deep left field to tie the game up at 2-2. (1 run, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on base)

Bottom 8^th – Four straight walks drawn on 17 pitches by the Bobcats scored the game-winning run. Young was at the plate for the fourth walk that scored Taylor Webb. (1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on base)

NOTES

• This was the first victory in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for Texas State in school history.
• Randi Rupp threw her 11^th game this season with at least 10 strikeouts. Between the first and second inning, Rupp struck out five consecutive batters.
• Rupp became the third player in school history to record at least 300 strikeouts in a season. The only other two are Katie Ann Trahan in 2005 (353) and Nicole Neuerburg in 2003 (321).
• Troy threw 17 pitches in the bottom of the eighth inning and Texas State didn’t swing at a single pitch.
• It was Kimberlin Naivar’s 10^th multi-hit game this season. She led the Bobcats with two hits.

NEXT UP

Texas State will play at 12:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon against the No. 2 seed South Alabama. It will be the first tournament game for the Jaguars after they earned the double-bye. Live stats, live video, and live audio will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com and on at the Tournament Central Page at www.sunbeltsports.org.

South Alabama finished the season with a 32-16 overall record and 17-6 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. NPF draftee Emily Messer leads the team with a .431 batting average and 72 hits. Devin Brown, who the Bobcats saw twice this season, leads the team in the circle with a 20-10 overall record and 1.52 ERA. She has struck out 308 batters this year.

The Bobcats took all three against the Jaguars when Texas State hosted South Alabama on April 23 and 24.