HARRISONBURG, Virginia – The Bobcats (21-6) opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 8-4 victory over James Madison University (16-8) behind a strong performance from Jessica Mullins and a continued team contribution on offense.
The Bobcats open the game up with a leadoff single from Hannah Earls. After two groundouts from Ciara Trahan and Sara Vanderford advanced her to third base, she would score on a wild pitch while Anna Jones was at bat.
The Dukes would answer with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. After a Jasmine Hall line out, Mullins walked Bella Henzler, gave up a single to Reed Butler and walked KK Mathis to load the bases up. Hallie Hall would then hit a single to drive in Henzler to tie the game at one run each. Mullins would get the Bobcats out of the jam by striking out Kate Carrier and got Payton List to foul out.
After two scoreless innings in the second and third innings that saw the Bobcats leave three runners stranded on base and two runners stranded for the Dukes, the Bobcats were back in business in the top of the fourth.
Karmyn Bass was walked to start the inning and Piper Randolph struck out swinging next. Singles from JJ Smith and Katarina Zarate would load the bases up with one out. Megan Kelnar would get a single of her own in the next at bat to drive in Bass and keep the bases loaded. Earls would reach on a fielder’s choice while Smith was called out at home plate. Trahan then singled to drive in Zarate and Vanderford was walked to bring home Kelnar. After a pitching change, Jones hit a single to drive in Earls and Bass hit another single to drive in Vanderford and Trahan. When it was all said and done in the top of the fourth the Bobcats added six runs and regained the lead 7-1 at the end of the inning as the Dukes failed to respond in the bottom half of the inning.
After a scoreless fifth inning from both teams and nothing from the Bobcats in the top of the sixth the Dukes would get back on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Maddy Azua was in to pitch for the fifth inning but was replaced to start the sixth inning by Tori McCann. Lexi Rogers and List would single to start the inning for the Dukes to give them two baserunners. After a Sanders strikeout Campbell hit a double that drove home Carrier (earned) and List (unearned). Hezler would single after a Jasmine Hall strike out and this advanced Campbell to third base. Butler would then reach on a throwing error that allowed Campbell to score and would move Henzler to third and Butler to move to second base. Mullins would then return to the game and got the next batter to pop up to end the inning. The score now stood at 7-4 in favor of the Bobcats heading into the final frame.
The Bobcats got a leadoff single from Bass, but she would be called out at second base on a fielder’s choice while Randolph safely made it to first base. Randolph then stole second base and JJ Smith would fly out to advance Randolph to third base. Zarate then singled to center field to drive home Randolph and push the lead to four runs with a score of 8-4. This would prove to be the final score as the Dukes went down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Bobcats and Dukes continue their series tomorrow with the first pitch scheduled for 12pm (CT). Tomorrow and Sunday’s (10am CT) games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Game Notes:
•Jessica Mullins improved to 12-2 on the season and earned her 81st career win, which gives her sole possession of third place in career wins for Texas State. She finished the game with 3 strikeouts, 1 earned run, and gave up 3 hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
•Maddy Azua came in to pitch in the fifth inning and had 0 strikeouts, gave up 2 hits and 0 earned runs in her lone inning of work and Tori McCann entered the game in the sixth inning and finished with 1 strikeout, 4 hits and 3 earned runs in 0.2 innings of work as Mullins reentered the game in the sixth with two outs.
•Karmyn Bass lead the way for the Bobcats offensively with 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Ciara Trahan and Katarina Zarate each had 2 hits and 1 RBI. Anna Jones and Megan Kelnar each had 1 hit and 1 RBI. JJ Smith had 2 hits and Hannah Earls had 1 hit. Sara Vanderford had the other RBI in the game for the Bobcats.
•The Bobcats handed the Dukes their first loss at home this season as they fell to 8-1 at home on the season while the Bobcats improved to 10-1 on the road or at a neutral site.
•The Dukes hit 10 homeruns in their four games last weekend and today the combination of Mullins, Azua, and McCann held them to zero.
•The Bobcats improved to 17-1 when scoring first in their games this season and have now won 7 games in a row. They also ended the Dukes 4 game winning streak.
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