University Star

Texas State softball went 3-1 in its first home tournament last weekend, sweeping Dayton and splitting two games with Rutgers.

Anne Taylor, junior pitcher, releases the ball Feb. 19 against Rutgers University. The Bobcats ended the CenturyLink Classic tournament with a 3-1 record and are 4-6 overall this season.

The Bobcats’ Friday games were postponed due to rain, and the two scheduled contests against Texas Southern were cancelled. Coach Ricci Woodard said she hopes the Bobcats can make a trip to Houston to make up the games.

Texas State was able to capitalize on errors by Rutgers and Dayton the first two games. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights botched six plays in an 11-6 loss after a rain delay Friday night and the Dayton Flyers were shut out 7-0 after five errors Saturday.

“I thought they didn’t handle (the rain delay) nearly as well as we did,” Woodard said. “I didn’t think they made some of the routine plays they needed early to keep them in it.”

Pitchers Anne Marie Taylor, junior, and Chandler Hall, senior, led the way for the Bobcats, each throwing a shutout against Dayton. Taylor won the first game against Rutgers, but fell in the second contest 2-1 despite a complete game effort.

“I feel good, except for one pitch,” Taylor said of a two-run homer she allowed in the third inning. “It would have been less frustrating if my team picked me up, but we just kept battling and it didn’t came through for us.”

Texas State was able to find a rhythm offensively to begin the tournament, scoring six runs in the first three innings immediately following the rain delay against Rutgers.

“It’s been a good experience because we’ve had to deal with some adversity,” Woodard said. “We’ve done a much better job of dealing with adversity this year than last weekend. We’re still learning to grow.”

The Bobcats started the last day of the classic with a 3-0 win against Dayton as Hall struck out 11 batters in a complete game. The second game against Rutgers, however, proved more frustrating for Texas State as the Bobcats mustered two hits and allowed three errors.

“We were flat, and there’s no reason for it,” Woodard said. “We were supposed to play six ball games this weekend and we barely got through four. We have to find a little bit more fire and a little bit more drive to play game-by-game.”

Jordan Masek, sophomore utility player, leads the team with a .350 batting average and notched six hits in 10 at bats during the tournament. Selena Hernandez, freshman shortstop, is second in batting with a .344 average and collected six hits, three runs and three RBI in 15 at bats.
“We played a lot better than we did in Arizona,” Hernandez said. “We came together and did a lot better.”