Tara Oltmann was perplexed in Texas State’s postgame press conference.
“Do you really have 40 unread messages?” she asked Bobcats head coach Ricci Woodard.
“Yes,” Woodard replied. “They’re coming in faster than I can open them.”
Dozens of the coach’s acquaintances were congratulating her on a signature win for the maroon and gold program. Texas State pulled off an upset win over No. 10 Oregon in the opening leg of the NCAA Austin Regional on Friday, 5-1.
“I'm pumped about this win,” Oltmann said. “You know, we were the underdogs coming in, but I don't think we really played like that. We came out swinging, pitching was phenomenal. And I think we just owned the game the whole time and we had the momentum.”
The Bobcats (39-12, 17-6 Sun Belt) stifled an Oregon team that entered the game with a .291 batting average. The Ducks (37-16, 14-10 Pac-12) earned more free bases than Texas State, holding a plus-two advantage in both walks and errors, and their seven hits on the night nearly matched the Bobcats’ eight. But Oregon also whiffed every time it had runners in scoring position, swinging 0-11 and stranding 11 throughout the game
Woodard cooked up a scheme to keep the Ducks’ bats guessing. She started freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins in the circle, allowed the ace to uncork her speedy rise ball against the opponent, then swapped Mullins out after she faced 13 batters in favor of junior right-hander Meagan King. Oregon struggled to adjust the reliever’s slower-paced changeups and drop balls, getting shut out over the final 4.2 innings.
King (12-4) received the win, allowing three hits, one walk and one HBP while striking out four. But if it came down to it, Woodard said Mullins could’ve come back into the game to keep the Ducks uncomfortable.
“They're exact opposites,” Woodard said. “And so, if you have to face both of them in the same ballgame, it's going to be hard to score a lot of runs.”
“I felt super calm and colected,” King said. “I think, you know, my team coming out and producing some runs definitely enabled me to just kind of keep it cool throughout the whole game. So even when we did get runners on base, I never doubted my team or my defense. I think we did a great job of working out of those situations and that was a big lead component for us tonight.”
Texas State leaned on its veterans to drive in runs. Senior first baseman Hailey MacKay led the way, getting her team on the board first with a two-RBI home run to deep centerfield in the top of the second inning. Junior shortstop Tara Oltmann followed, scoring freshman centerfielder Piper Randolph from first base with an RBI double in the third inning. Freshman second baseman Sara Vanderford added two more insurance runs in the sixth, sending Oltmann home with an RBI double, then reaching the dish herself on a wild pitch, securing the 5-1 win. The four players accounted for all of the Bobcats’ hits on the night, tallying two each.
T2 @smdrsports
— Drew King (@drewking0222) May 21, 2021
Senior first baseman Hailey MacKay (@hailey8_) CAME. TO. PLAY.
She sends a 2-run bomb over the centerfield fence for the first score of the game. #TXST leads Oregon, 2-0 ? pic.twitter.com/aolTBlWf00
“I think we came in with the mindset knowing that we had nothing to lose,” Oltmann said. “So we just wanted to go in and prove to ourselves that we can hang with anybody. It doesn't matter what conference they're from, what they're ranked and whatnot. We just went out there and, you know, we played how we usually play.”
The victory is the team’s first since beating Sacramento State, 8-4, in the Los Angeles Regional on May 18, 2018. It also snapped a 27-game winning streak for Oregon in NCAA Regional play, which originated in 2010.
The Bobcats are now set to face a familiar foe in No. 12 overall seed Texas (40-11, 12-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. Texas State fell to the Longhorns in both of their meetings earlier in the season, though both games were decided by one run.
The team hopes the third time’s the charm.
“We played two tough games against them. And so, I think we have the feeling that those games could have gone either way for us,” Woodard said. “And so, that's a good place to be right now. We know we have to play our best to beat them, that's the bottom line.
“I think that we're just getting started in this Regional.”
