The Texas State softball team lost its fifth straight nonconference game and second contest to Baylor University this season, 7-3 at home Tuesday night in 10 innings.

The Bears’ sophomore shortstop Jordan Strickland hit a one-out, two-run home run in the top of the 10th to give Baylor the lead and clinch the game.

Sophomore right fielder Kaitlyn Thumann added an RBI in the top of the 10th to push the lead, 6-3. Redshirt first baseman Holly Holl hit a double deep to center field to drive in the final run for Baylor, giving them the 7-3 advantage. She had four RBI for the Bears.

All three Bobcats who came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th struck out swinging to end the game.

After Bobcat baseball earned its first sweep of the season against Seattle University, Texas State was swept by California State University-Sacramento this weekend in Sacramento.

Texas State lost three games by a combined four runs, dropping game one 3-2, the second 7-5 and the third 1-0 to drop to 12-19, 5-4 in conference.

“We were disappointed we did not win the series,” said Coach Ty Harrington. “We were very confident and comfortable that we were going to win coming into the series.”

The Bobcats left a total of 25 men on base in the three-game series against the Hornets, including 12 on Saturday in a 7-5 loss.

The Bobcats got into holes in all three games by giving up runs early in contests. All of the Hornets’ runs in the series came in the first four innings of each game, including seven in Saturday’s loss. Texas State’s starting pitching gave up 10 of the 11 runs on the weekend.

Recently hired basketball coach Danny Kaspar has a new home away from home.

Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Kaspar recognizes the potential of Texas State basketball and the advantages that a growing university provides.

“I’ve always seen Texas State as a university with great potential,” Kaspar said. “I think this is a wonderful place to live, Central Texas. I have many relatives up here. It’s always been just outside my back yard.”

The 2012-13 Southland Conference Coach of the Year plans to place a higher emphasis on defensive basketball. This will be a drastic change from the run-and-gun-style offense the Bobcats utilized last year.

This past season, Stephen F. Austin State University, Kaspar’s former team, led the nation in scoring defense, allowing 51.2 points per game. In contrast, Texas State was ranked 325 out of 345, giving up 75.2 points. In 2010-11, SFA led the nation with 56.7 and was third in 2011-12 with 54.4.

The Texas State softball team won its first home WAC series of the season over this past weekend, claiming the final two games of the matchup from Louisiana Tech University.

The ball club now posts an overall record of 9-28 and currently sits fifth in the conference standings with a 4-5 WAC record.

“I think we’re in a good spot right now,” sophomore third baseman Courtney Harris said. “We’re on the right track. We definitely have momentum up and our ultimate goal is to be in the right spot by the conference tournament.”

The Bobcats blew a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth and fell 7-6 in game one but bounced back to take the series with 7-3 and 8-3 victories Friday and Saturday.

The team was led by senior second baseman Anna Hernandez over the weekend. Hernandez hit .500, drove in three RBI and had a run in the Bobcats’ two wins.

Texas State held its third annual Maroon-Gold spring game on Saturday night, hoping to prove the Bobcats could clean up the mistakes that plagued them during a 4-8 season in 2012.

The result was mixed, but in the end Maroon prevailed over Gold 28-14 at Bobcat Stadium, led by redshirt freshman quarterback Jordan Moore’s 151 all-purpose yards.

Running back Chris Nutall chipped in seven carries for 63 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought there were some nice teachable moments in that game,” said Coach Dennis Franchione. “There were a lot of things that were positive, and we are starting to look a little more like a football team.”

Moore fumbled on third-and-goal at the 1-yard line during Maroon’s first possession and threw an interception at the end of the first half. He bounced back with rushing and passing touchdowns in the second half and no turnovers. Overall, Texas State committed four turnovers and four penalties.