Bobcat Softball Wins Series Over TAMU-CC

The Texas State Softball team continued to play well as they once again won another Southland Conference game on Sunday. With winds gusting up to 40 mph, hitting was affected greatly in a double-header played at Bobcat Field. The wind blew from left to right field pushing every hit put out to right field foul. Game one went underway at noon with Chandler Hall starting at the circle. Hall came into the game with a 2.84 era and a total of a team leading 116 strikeouts. Taking the start for the Islanders was their leader in earned run average, Margo Hurdt, who displayed an impressive 2.55. With a batting average of .316 overall for Corpus Christi, Chandler Hall faced the run-hungry bats of the Islanders.

Striking first in game one were the Bobcats with a grand slam recorded by Leah Boatright. The grand slam was the first in right fielder’s career. Adding the 4-0 lead was Anna Hernandez’s double driving in from second and third Shelby Carnline and Kristina Tello. The lead was advanced further when Boatright collected her fifth RBI of the day after a bases loaded walk advanced Hernandez home, giving Texas State a 7-0 lead. However, after a few pitching changes for Texas State, the Islanders were able to answer back with a bit of a comeback. AMCC cut into the Bobcats lead when it recorded two runs in the third after Margo Hurdt hit a single to center field. The Islanders recorded three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. With the lead now cut to 7-6, it was up to the freshman pitcher Anne Marie Taylor to get the save and clean up the victory. Taylor came into game and took care of business, giving the win to the 'Cats. The save from Taylor made it her 7th on the season while Chandler Hall improved her record to 9-6 overall. The win clinched the series for the Bobcats bringing the game total to 2-0 for the weekend series.

Game two started around 2:30 pm with the winds continuing to cause problems for both teams on the field and at the plate. Taking the circle for the Bobcats once again was freshman Anne Marie Taylor, just fresh off her recent save in the second game of the series. Anne Marie’s record coming into the game was a perfect 4-0 in southland play and 4-4 overall. The starting pitcher for AMCC was Addie Tallman who pitched a near perfect game to close the strong hitting displayed from the Bobcats in the second game of the series. Addie’s overall record was 5-4 on the season. A bizarre start to the game resulted from another grand slam, this time from the Islander catcher Brittany Tucker in the top of the first inning. The grand slam made it Brittany’s 6th time to clear the fence.

By the bottom of the third the score was set at 6-1 in the Islanders favor, but the Bobcats were determined to not let this game get away from them. Texas State was able to knock in 6 runs off a pitching change set by TAMU-CC head coach Schumann to put Elena Crabtree into the game. The Bobcats took a 7-6 lead after second baseman Anna Hernandez drove in two runs off a sacrifice grounder down right field. However, the strong hitting from the Islanders was not finished just yet. Chandler Hall was put back into the game and managed to give the Islanders 5 more runs in the top of the fifth inning. Texas State was not able to answer to the runs put up by Corpus Christi and dropped the final game of the series with a final score being 11-7.

After the game I was able to grab a quick interview with Coach Woodard of the Bobcats. I asked her about the inconsistency at the circle for the pitchers on the day. She responded by saying the girls just couldn’t find their spots. We discussed the wind situation and how it affected the game and errors. She claimed most of the errors were due to poor fielding. With this win, Coach Woodard now has 200 wins and makes her the 2nd person in Southland to have such a record. The Bobcat Softball team will now face Texas in San Marcos on Wednesday, March 24th at 6:30 p.m. You can listen to the game live on 89.9 FM or ktsw.net, pregame coverage starts at 6:15 pm.

-Tyler Thomason, KTSW Sports Staff Writer