Texas State’s last two days at the Sun Belt tournament didn’t go according to plan, but the Bobcats are still going dancing.
The maroon and gold were defeated in the semifinal round of the conference tourney in Troy, Ala., on Friday by No. 1 seed Louisiana, 4-3. They were eliminated from the bracket altogether on Saturday by No. 4 seed South Alabama in eight innings, 4-3. But on Sunday, they were selected to the Austin Regional of the NCAA tournament, getting matched up with Oregon.
“Yeah, it's a great regional. When you put Texas, Oregon, St. Francis (PA) and us together, you have put a good group of teams together,” head coach Ricci Woodard said in a statement. “Every pitch is going to be a definite battle, in my opinion, so I think it'll be a great place to watch softball this weekend.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Meagan King made her second-straight start against the Ragin’ Cajuns a day after throwing a complete shutout against UT Arlington on Thursday. Both teams were held off the board until the fifth inning, when an RBI single from Louisiana (44-10, 21-3 Sun Belt) drove in the first run of the game.
Texas State countered in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of scores of its own. Freshman centerfielder Piper Randolph led off with a single and was replaced by junior right fielder Kylie George after a fielder’s choice. Junior shortstop Tara Oltmann added another single and freshman second baseman Sara Vanderford reached on another fielder’s then stole second base, putting herself and George in scoring position. Senior first baseman Hailey MacKay singled through the right side to score both and give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.
But a throwing error by freshman third baseman Baylee Lemons allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to score two unearned runs and jump back in front in the top of the sixth. Louisiana added an insurance run in the seventh and held Texas State to one score in the final frame — a solo home run from Oltmann — to take the 4-3 win.
“I think as a team, we just came in and Coach Woodard told us like the first game (against Georgia State), we really don't have much to lose,” Oltmann said. “I mean, we put ourselves in a good spot to make the NCAA Tournament. So I think, you know, that first game, I think we came out a little bit tight. But then afterwards, I think we settled down some and just focused on playing fun and playing our game.”
The loss slotted the Bobcats in an elimination game with the Jaguars (30-19, 13-9) on Saturday. Woodard didn’t want to put King back in the circle unless the team reached the championship game since the junior had already thrown on back-to-back days. But freshman right-hander Jessica Mullins — who threw a complete game shutout against Georgia State on Wednesday — violated team policy during the week and was also made unavailable for the game.
That left senior Dalilah Barrera, sophomore Brooke Blackwell and freshman Tori McCann as the only arms left in the bullpen. The trio combined to pitch just 72.1 innings in the regular season.
“That probably didn't put us in a spot to be in a championship game today, in my opinion,” Woodard said. “But you know I thought those kids today that threw in the circle for us put us in a great spot to still win a ballgame. You know, they haven't had a lot of pitching time in the last month or two. And so, for them to keep us in a spot to still win a ballgame today, I couldn't be more proud of them.”
Barrera was tapped as the starter and nearly worked her way through five innings, her longest span inside the circle this year. She held South Alabama to just one run before the Jaguars loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. McCann came in relief, but walked the next batter and threw a wild pitch in the next two at-bats to allow two runs to score before getting the final out of the frame, the Bobcats behind, 3-1.
Oltmann tied the game back up in the next frame, though, singling up the middle to score George from second base, advancing to second on the throw, taking third on a wild pitch, and tagging up to score on a sacrifice fly from Vanderford. McCann held USA scoreless over the next two innings, sending the game into extras.
The team couldn’t finish the Jaguars off, though. McCann allowed two on base in the bottom of the eighth before being replaced by Blackwell. The junior walked the first batter she saw, loading the bases. South Alabama scored on a groundout in the next plate appearance to end the game at 4-3, knocking them out of the tournament. Louisiana went on to run-rule the Jaguars in five innings in the championship game, 15-3.
“The pitchers are keeping us in the game,” Oltmann said. “They're throwing the ball really well. And I think whenever they're doing that, we just see it right off the bat. And I had a diving play, Sara had a diving play. Like, the defense really made some good plays.”
Still, Texas State was one of a conference record-setting four Sun Belt teams selected to the NCAA tournament, along with Louisiana, South Alabama and Troy. The Bobcats will take on Oregon (37-15, 14-10 Pac-12) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Austin. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
It’ll be the team’s third time playing inside Red and Charline McCombs Field, which King sees as an edge.
“Oh, I'm super pumped. I think we have several advantages going in there: we've played there before; it's close home; the weather won't be any different than what we're used to and it's the same facilities we've played at before,” King said in a statement. “We've been in every single game against Texas this season, if not had the opportunity to win, so knowing that I think that'll give us a big confidence boost going into this weekend.”