Last weekend, the Bobcats (14-4) won all six games at the Arizona State and Grand Canyon tournament, extending their winning streak to 7 games. Now, they are turning their focus towards the number 2 ranked Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns (12-1) participated in the Lone Star Invitational over the weekend and went 4-1. They won two games each against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and Colorado State Rams but lost to Stanford 3-4 on Saturday in eight innings.
This game between the Longhorns and the Bobcats is sold out, but Texas State students can still attend by showing their student ID.
The Longhorns and the Bobcats softball teams have faced each other a total of 60 times, with the Longhorns leading the series 45-15. The Bobcats have won 6 games against the Longhorns at Bobcat Softball Stadium. The last time the Bobcats defeated the Longhorns was on March 12, 2023, in Austin, with a score of 5-4. The last time the Bobcats won against the Longhorns in San Marcos was on April 11, 2018, with a score of 2-1.
On Tuesday, Jessica Mullins and Sara Vanderford were named Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, by the Sun Belt Conference for the first time this season.
I recently caught up with pitcher Jessica Mullins, who is coming off of a 13-strikeout performance this past Sunday against Grand Canyon University. She shared her thoughts on the game, saying, “I felt that I had a great mindset going into that game. I had a few great outings previously that had allowed me to into the game confidently to help us seal the weekend sweep.” On facing the Longhorns Mullins said, “To keep this success going, we just have to continue to trust each other and play each game one pitch at a time. We have the capability to beat anyone if we continue to play at our level regardless of who is in the other dugout. I’m so excited to see what we can do the rest of the season.”
Mullins is 7-1 on the season and has an ERA of 0.96 with 55 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Maddy Azua 3-2 on the season and has an ERA of 1.93 with 34 strikeouts in 32.2 innings pitched.
On the offensive side, the Bobcats are led by senior Sara Vanderford who is batting .333 with 14 RBI’s and a team leading 3 homeruns on the season. Ciara Trahan and Hannah Earls have also significantly contributed to the team’s success as well and they are both on an 10-game hitting streak. Trahan is batting .466 with 27 hits and 9 RBI’s while Earls is batting 4.19 with 26 hits and 1 RBI. In any given game either one of these three can get hot, but it doesn’t just stop with them. Piper Randolph (.313, 10 hits, 10 RBI’s), Karmyn Bass (.302, 16 hits, 14 RBI’s), Anna Jones (.271, 13 hits, 10 RBI’s), and JJ Smith (.243, 9 hits, 10 RBI’s) and several others have all contributed to various games season, proving that any Bobcat in the lineup can get hot and help get the Bobcats the win.
The Longhorns are led offensively by Reese Atwood who is batting .632 with 9 home runs and 31 RBI’s, Kayden Henry (.515, 17 hits, 9 RBI’s), Mia Scott (.405, 15 hits, 8 RBI’s), and Katie Stewart (.400, 14 hits, 16 RBI’s). This week Atwood was named Big 12 player of the week for the second time in three weeks. Last week Kayden Henry was named to the same honor, and this is the first time a member of the Longhorns team has ever won player of the week for three consecutive weeks.
Defensively the Longhorns are led by sophomore pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez who is 2-0 this season with an ERA of 0.71 with 10 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Teagan Kavan (5-0, 1.64 ERA, 26 strikeouts in 25.2 innings) and Junior pitcher Mac Morgan (3-0, 1.29 ERA, 10 strikeouts in 16.1 innings) combined with Gutierrez are quite the trio for the Longhorns. Together, they have a win-loss record of 10-0, an average ERA of 1.21, combined opposing average batting average of .180, and have thrown for 70 scoreless innings (86.4%) out of the 81 innings they have played.
Game Information
First pitch is scheduled for 6pm (central time).
Fans are encouraged to wear black to this game and Texas State is handing out “Black TXST Swag” to fans in attendance.
There will be no video broadcast, but the game can be heard on KTSW 89.9FM (Bobcats feed) and at texas.leanplayer.com (Longhorn’s feed).
Follow us on X (formally known as Twitter) for live game coverage and come back here for a postgame recap.
Bobcats Insider 
Leave a comment