Bobcats Avoid Getting Swept in Weekend Series Against Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns

By Kayla Guillory
Sports Reporter

The Texas State Women’s Softball team (19-5 overall, 6-6 Sun Belt) was able to avoid being swept against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (23-9 overall, 9-3 Sun Belt) Apr. 1-3 at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. The two teams went at it all weekend long in a three-game series ending 2-1 in favor of the Ragin’ Cajuns.

The first game of the series was a battle between the pitchers. Texas State Jessica Mullins, right-handed pitcher, and Louisiana Sam Laundry pitched a shutout for the first three innings.

Ragin’ Cajun Stormy Kotzelnick broke the scoring drought by hitting a home run in the fourth inning that ended up being the only run of the ball game. The Bobcats were catching fire in the bottom of the sixth inning trying to get on the board. Hannah Earls made it to second base after hitting a single then advanced to third due to an error by Louisiana that walked Sara Vanderford. Unfortunately, the Bobcat’s momentum was cut short after Louisiana’s defense came up big getting the second and third out leaving two Bobcats on base at the bottom of the sixth.

The Ragin’ Cajuns took the first game of the series with the final score being 1-0.

In Saturday’s game, Hannah Earls scored the first point for the Bobcats after a sacrifice bunt by Ciara Trahan in the first inning. But the Ragin’ Cajuns were quick to respond with a home run by Melissa Mayeux, who hit another home run in the fifth inning.

The Bobcats did not score again in the game but the Ragin’ Cajuns did let up. In the fourth inning, the Ragin’ Cajuns scored seven runs that brought the score to 8-1.

Continuing with momentum in the fifth inning, the Ragin’ Cajuns scored two more runs that totaled the final score of 10-1.

Going into Sunday, the Ragin’ Cajuns were looking to sweep the final game of the series, but the Bobcats were prepared to put up a fight. Louisiana was first to get points on the scoreboard with two runs because of an error by the pitcher in the second inning.

Moving on to the third inning, Trahan showed off her speed by getting to first base after hitting a single. Peiper Randolph hit a single of her own that Trahan scored on, giving the Bobcats their first run of the game. After an error by Louisiana, Randolph scored, tying the game 2-2.

The Bobcats took the lead at the bottom on the fifth inning after Vanderford made a sacrifice bunt that advanced Cat Crenek to second and Earls to third where she later scored bringing the score to 2-3.

In the seventh inning, the Ragin’ Cajuns tried to tie the game up or take the lead, but their efforts were cut short after infielder Jourdyn Campbell was struck out by Mullins.

Coach Ricci Woodard was pleased to see her team fight from start to finish.

“We battled today,” Woodard said, “Today we just kept battling which is something we talk a lot about yesterday after the game. We gotta continue to battle ball games at the end of the game.”

The Bobcats will head to Huntsville, Texas to compete against the Sam Houston Bearkats on April 7 at 3 p.m. You can watch live by streaming on ESPN+.

Featured Image by Kaylie Kruk