Losers of 6 out of their last 7 games, the Texas State Softball team looked to bounce back against the Northwestern State Lady Demons in Saturday’s double-header. In the final home series of the season for Texas State, the Bobcats continued their struggles and lost 1-0 in Game 1.
Light-out pitching by both Chandler Hall of Texas State and Kylie Roos of Northwestern State kept the pressure on the offense, as the game headed into the 6th inning with the scoreboard still reading “0-0”. In the top of the 6th, the Lady Demons managed to get their first and only hits of the game. Stormi Stech led off the inning with a single and Kayla Cole singled later in the inning to score Stech.
It’s a no-brainer that Chandler Hall suffered her most gut-wrenching loss of the season, however, she has had past experience feeling such agony. Last Wednesday vs. Houston, Hall went 7 innings strong, struck out 4, and maintained the shutout before late mistakes by the bullpin handed Hall a “no decision”. That following Saturday, Hall ended up getting tagged the “L” in a game where she went 6 innings, fanned 6, and gave up 1 run.
It was the same old story in game 1 of the Saturday double-header, as Hall struck out a whopping 9 Lady Demon hitters and gave up 1 run on 2 base hits. One would think these eye-popping stats would produce an impressive win, but the sole run by the Lady Demons (and the absence of Bobcat bats), insured the victory for Northwestern State.
The majority of the undersized Bobcat offense came from the bats of Kristina Tello and Chandler Hall. They each recorded two hits. McKenzie Baack and Lindsay Matt each managed a hit as well. The home crowd was left scratching their heads as they watched Texas State’s two most powerful hitters, Senior-leader Leah Boatright and Freshman-phenom Anna Hernandez, go a combined 0-6 with 2 strikeouts.
Failing to score any runs on 6 base hits wasn’t even the worst part for the struggling ‘Cats. Coach Woodard’s squad stranded 9 base runners, including a bases-loaded situation early in the game.
For Northwestern State, nothing can be said offensively except for the heroism displayed in the 6th inning by Stormi Stech and Kayla Cole. Instead, the story of the day was the pitching by Freshman Kylie Roos. Roos (12-9) pitched a complete shutout giving up 6 hits and walking 3. Between her and Chandler Hall of Texas State, a “pitcher’s dual” was undeniably defined Saturday afternoon.
Texas State will have to turn it around quickly if they want a chance to be regular season conference champs. If the struggles continue, they could not only push themselves out of that opportunity, but also miss out on a first round bye in the Conference Tournament.
Andrew Vizzone, KTSW Sports Staff Writer
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