Texas State Softball 2024 Season Preview

By Tyson Taylor

KTSW Sports Reporter

The wait is almost over, as the 2024 Texas State softball season is less than a week away. With an abundance of success and accomplishments in recent years, the 2024 season should be nothing short of special.

The Texas State Bobcats finished the 2023 softball season with a final record of 35-25-1 (13-9-1) and finished fifth in the final Sun Belt standings. The Bobcats season would ultimately come to an end during the Austin Regional of the NCAA tournament. With the season on the line, the Bobcats beat Seton Hall in a 4-3 win during an elimination game. Texas State would then advance to face Texas A&M, where they fell short to the Aggies with a final score of 4-2. Including last year, Texas State softball has made it to the NCAA tournament five of the past eight seasons.

Fast forward to 2024, and fans are anticipating this season to be one of the best ones yet. Bobcat Head Coach Ricci Woodard is making her 24th season debut as head coach for the Bobcats. Since beginning her Bobcat coaching career in 2001, Woodard has accumulated a total record of 797-487-2. Woodard is just three wins short of reaching an incredible coaching milestone of 800 wins. Woodards conference record is quite impressive as well, as she holds a winning percentage of 71.7% within conference play and a total record of 400-156-2.

The Bobcats are active not only on the softball field but in the recruiting ranks as well. Ricci Woodard and the Bobcat coaching staff announced that eight players were signed to the 2024 signing class. The eight players joining the Bobcats are: Savannah Carter, Emily Fish, Mayson Garrett, Abby Garza, Erin Peterson, Melania Reeves, Bailey Slack, and Taylor Wilson. All eight members of the 2024 signing class are Texas natives. While these incoming freshmen may not see many minutes this season, they will be continuing the program standards for years to come.

With that being said, one of the most exciting aspects of this season has to be the roster. The Bobcats have an immense amount of depth this season, as the team has a total of 26 players. This year’s roster includes six freshmen, eight sophomores, three juniors, and nine seniors. This is a much more developed and experienced Bobcat softball team, as last season only consisted of two seniors. Luckily for Bobcat fans, the sole two seniors last season, Tori McCann and Sara Vanderford, will be returning this season and playing as 5th year seniors.

The Bobcats were ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference preseason Coaches Poll only behind Louisiana and South Alabama. Several Bobcats were honored with Sun Belt preseason awards. Senior Jessica Mullins was awarded the 2024 Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Jessica Mullins is coming off three straight All-Sun Belt First Team nominations, so it was only right to give her this preseason award. The Bobcat pitcher finished the 2023 season with a 22-12 record, 1.88 ERA, 176 strikeouts, and four shutouts.

Senior Sara Vanderford was also honored, as she was named Preseason All-Sun Belt alongside Jessica Mullins. Vanderford, previously mentioned as a 5th-year senior, started all 62 games for the Bobcats last season. Vanderford has high expectations this season, as she is at the top of many Bobcat program records. She comes in second in program history with a career batting average of.330, first in career doubles with 53, second in career home runs with 29, and second in career RBI with 139.

The Bobcats will be opening up the 2024 season with a series of consecutive tournaments. The first two tournaments to come will be hosted by our very own Texas State Bobcats, with the Texas State and TXST tournaments. All exhibitions within these two tournaments will be played at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The Bobcats will then be traveling to Tempe, Arizona, to compete in the Arizona State/Grand Canyon Tournament. The last tournament the Bobcats will be participating in before conference play is the Texas Tech Tournament held in Lubbock, Texas. Besides conference and tournament games, the Bobcats will see some fierce competition throughout the season. The Bobcats will see the likes of Penn State, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas.

Texas State Softball will hit off the 2024 season this coming Thursday, February 8, with a doubleheader against UTSA (2 p.m.) and Northwestern State (4:15 p.m.) at Bobcat Softball Stadium. These two matches will be the first of five games within the Texas State Tournament. The season-opening doubleheader can be heard live on KTSW 89.9.