McKenzie Baack, Jenna Emery, Chandler Hall and Anna Hernandez were named to the all-tournament team.

Three doubles by the first four Texas State batters in the bottom of the first led to an early 2-0 lead for the Bobcats. Unfortunately, it was all the runs Texas State would muster.

A two-run home run by McNeese State’s Molly Guidry in the top of the fourth tied the game up, then the Cowgirls tacked on their final run after a Bobcat throwing error in the fifth inning.

Both Chandler Hall and Elizabeth Dennis pitched effectively for the Bobcats. Texas State allowed just six runs the entire tournament. Hall fanned 14 batters in the tournament in 17.2 innings pitched.

“I thought we played a great ballgame. I have no complaints about how we played the entire tournament,” said head coach Ricci Woodard. “I thought McNeese State played a great ballgame, and I thought we did too.”

Today’s championship appearance was the seventh overall for the Bobcats, and their third runner-up finish.

The Bobcats stepped up their defense and denied the Mavericks a chance of scoring in the top of the first even though they got a runner in scoring position. With the wind blowing out toward left field, Baack stepped up to the plate with two runners on base and hit a shot just over the left field wall to give Texas State the early 3-0 lead. The home run was her fourth of the year.

Texas State kept the hits coming, as Jenna Emery hit a base hit with a single down the left line. Hall hit a single down the middle, and Anna Hernandez singled to left to load up the bases. The wind continued to play a factor in Texas State’s hitting barrage, as Rother hit a grand slam for her first home run of the season over the left field wall. It was also Rother’s first career grand slam.

Hall continued to prevent the Mavericks from scoring, as she only allowed one hit in the second, third and fourth innings.

Baack continued her stellar play, as she reached base on a bunt single. Following her bunt, Emery hit a single to centerfield that brought in Lindsay Matt. Hall then gave herself even more run support with a two run double, putting the game at 10-0.

UTA was able to avoid the shut out in the top of the fifth inning, as Kaiser hit a solo home run to left center and made the game 10-1.

The tournament resumes today with No. 6 seed Nicholls vs. No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin at 11 a.m., followed by No. 3 seed UTA vs. No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:30. The winners of those two games will face off at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Texas State (22-21, 17-1 SLC) enters this weekend with a one-game lead over Stephen F. Austin in the conference standings, with six games left in league play. The Bobcats are coming off a 1-3 week, where they dropped one game to Houston and won one of three versus UTSA on the road.

Northwestern State (24-22, 10-14 SLC) picked up two wins over Nicholls this past weekend to earn 10 wins in conference play. The Lady Demons are in second to last place in the league with two weeks remaining in SLC play.

The Lady Demons hold a 47-48 all-time lead over the Bobcats. Texas State swept the series last season and it has not lost a game to Northwestern State since 2004.

Southland Conference Tournament Ticket Sales
Tickets for the 2010 Southland Conference Softball Tournament, which will be hosted by Texas State, May 13-15, are on sale now.

Adult reserved all-tournament tickets are available for $35, while a youth reserved ticket is $25. A general admission all-tournament ticket is available for $25.

Tickets will also be available for each day of the tournament. Individual day tickets go on sale May 3. An adult reserved day ticket is $15 while a youth day ticket is $10. General admission individual day tickets will also be available for $10.

* Due to Texas State Commencement Ceremonies parking will be limited on Friday and Saturday. General parking for spectators is located in the Bobcat Stadium West Parking Lot.

Anne Marie Taylor (6-5) suffered the loss tonight giving up three runs in 1.0 innings pitched. Five different Bobcats registered hits tonight, with six runners reaching base.

Bailey Watts (11-8) earned the win tonight for Houston fanning nine batters and walking four.

The Cougars posted hits in both the first and third inning, but stranded four runners on base through three to come up scoreless.

Haley Lemons tacked on the Bobcats’ first hit with a single up the middle in the fourth. Pinch runner Brooke Baker entered the game and stole second, then Jenna Emery was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with two outs. A wild pitch by Bailey Watts advanced the runners a base each, but a Bobcat strikeout ended the inning before a run could be scored.

Chandler Hall and Kristina Tello both recorded singles in the fifth inning, but the Bobcats left two runners on base to end the inning.

Houston went three-up, three-down in the top of the seventh to give the Bobcats a chance to take the game in the bottom of the inning.

Allyce Rother led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Carnline. Despite having a runner on second base, Texas State was unable to garner any runs, moving the game into extra innings.

Houston’s Holly Anderson hit an RBI single to the left side in the top of the ninth to drive in Brooke Lathan for the game-winning run. Ashleigh Jones knocked in two more Cougars to give Houston a 3-0 victory tonight.

Texas State travels down I-35 to San Antonio this weekend, where it will face UTSA April 23-24 at Roadrunner Field. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. Saturday’s single game is set for 12 p.m.

Leah Boatright went 6-for-8 from the plate today to bat .750. Boatright tallied five RBI and two runs. McKenzie Baack and Anna Hernandez both finished 3-for-7 from the plate. Baack recorded three RBI and three hits while Hernandez had two doubles and two runs.

Game 1

The Bobcats captured the win in game one as Anne Marie Taylor led Texas State in the circle to earn her sixth win of the season. Elizabeth Dennis picked up the save.

Texas State jumped put to a 1-0 edge to start the game and never relinquished the lead. The first run came on an RBI single by Leah Boatright that drove in Haley Lemons. The Bobcats added a pair of runs in the second when Shelby Carnline recorded a two-run double.

Thanks to a UCA throwing error in the fourth inning, McKenzie Baack was able to tack on another run for the Bobcats. Up 4-2 entering the seventh inning, Baack nailed a three-run homer to left field to put Texas State ahead by five.

UCA managed to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats emerged with the 7-4 victory.

Game 2

Chandler Hall picked up her 13^th win and third shutout of the season, as she led Texas State to a 6-0 win in game two. Hall fanned nine batters and allowed five hits in the seven-inning span.

Hall registered an RBI single in the second inning to give Texas State a 1-0 lead. Texas State kept the runs coming when a double by Leah Boatright in the third inning brought in Anna Hernandez and Lindsay Matt.

Texas State tallied four hits and three runs in the seventh, including a homer by Boatright to come away with the 6-0 shutout.

The Bobcats return home on April 10 when they host the Nicholls in a double header beginning at 1:00 p.m. They will play a single game on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

“We kept battling and we were able to get a couple of runs at the end of the game off of their best pitcher and that was huge for us,” said head coach Ricci Woodard.

Texas State began the game by retiring the first three Texas batters, two of them by strikeout. The Bobcats were able to keep Texas from scoring in the second inning as well, leaving a Texas runner on third. Chandler Hall had four strikeouts in the first three innings of work.

Texas State scored in the second inning on a McKenzie Baack single up the middle, bringing in Haley Lemons. The Bobcats followed that with a blooper over first base by Allyce Rother to score Jenna Emery for another run.

The Bobcats had the opportunity to bring in more runs with the bases loaded for Anna Hernandez, but Hernandez flied out to left field.

Boatright then continued the hitting attack with a two-run homerun in the third inning; her third homer of the year and second in three games after hitting a grand slam on Sunday. It proved to be essential for the Bobcats to get an early 4-0 lead.

“It was huge. They (Texas) didn’t want to have to use Blaire Luna at all tonight so getting the early lead forced them to play their hands differently,” said Woodard.

Hall allowed the first runs and hits by Texas, after giving up back-to-back solo homeruns by Amy Hooks and Loryn Johnson. Taylor Hoagland broke a UT hitting streak with 17 straight games.

Hall loaded the bases and gave up four runs before coming out of the game. Anne Marie Taylor came in to pitch after Hall.

“That’s one of the hardest parts of the job, trying to decide when to take the pitcher out or leave the pitcher in,” said Woodard.

Taylor committed two illegal pitches in the fifth inning that allowed Texas to score yet another run in the inning, but eventually settled down and continued to pitch strong in the sixth and seventh inning.

Tello hit a sharp grounder in the sixth inning to the second baseman who fumbled it and then tossed it into the Texas State dugout which scored two runs.

The tying and winning run got on base for the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh, and Boatright hit her second homerun of the game to win the game. That was her third in the past three games and fourth on the season. Boatright is now third in the all time career standings for RBI’s at Texas State.

“When Leah got up there, she’s been as confident as anybody and one swing of the bat and the ball left the yard,” said Woodard.

The Bobcats now move to 14-13 on the season as they get ready to travel to Southeastern Louisiana this weekend. Texas State plays a double header on Saturday, March 27 beginning at 3:00pm. Sunday’s single game is set for 12:00pm.

This will be the first of two meetings for the Bobcats and Longhorns this season. The Bobcats will travel to Austin on Wednesday, March 31 to play the Longhorns at 6:30pm at McCombs Field.

Texas State (13-13) has won 10 of its last 12 games. The Bobcats are coming off a 2-1 weekend over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Leah Boatright was on a hitting spree this past weekend, as the senior right fielder batted .500 on the week. She also recorded her first career grand slam. Chandler Hall is 9-6 on the mound, with 121 strikeouts.

Texas (23-6) is coming off a 3-1 loss to Louisville at the Judi Garman Classic. The Longhorns began the season on an 11-game win streak, before falling to Fresno State 5-4. UT is led by Blaire Luna in the circle. Luna is 12-3 so far this season, with 158 strikeouts.

History: Texas State vs Texas
Texas holds the all-time series advantage over Texas State with a record of 23-12. For the past three years, each team has managed to pull out the win on the road, but never at home.

Last Time Out

After a 9-6 comeback victory for the Bobcats on Feb. 11 at McCombs Field, the Longhorns traveled to San Marcos on March 3, taking a 4-2 victory at Bobcat Field.

Live Coverage
Tomorrow’s game versus Texas can be followed live through GameTracker. Additionally, a free live audio stream of the games is also available. Links to the live broadcasts can be found by logging onto txstatebobcats.com and clicking on the multimedia link. Radio coverage of the game can be heard on KTSW 89.9 fm.

Game 1

Senior right fielded Leah Boatright recorded a grand slam in the first inning to give Texas State a 4-0 advantage. The grand slam was Boatright’s first of her career.

The Bobcats added two more runs to their total when Anna Hernandez hit a double to right center to drive in Shelby Carnline and Kristina Tello.

Boatright collected her fifth RBI of the day after a bases loaded walk advanced Hernandez home, giving Texas State a 7-0 lead.

AMCC cut into the Bobcats lead when it recorded two runs in the third after Margo Hurdt hit a single to center field. The Islanders recorded three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Bobcats.

The win marked the 200^th Southland Conference victory for head coach Ricci Woodard. She is only the second active SLC coach to accomplish this feat.

Game 2

It was déjà vu in the first inning again, except this time it was Brittany Tucker who hit the grand slam for the Islanders. Tucker knocked the ball over the left field wall to give the Islanders an early lead on the Bobcats.

Texas State racked up six runs in the third to take a 7-6 lead, but the Islanders weren’t done playing. AMCC pulled out five runs in the fifth to take an 11-7 advantage over the Bobcats.

The Bobcats were unable to catch the Islanders, losing 11-7. AMCC’s win is the first over the Bobcats since 2006, ending an 11-game losing streak to Texas State.

This is the first win over a ranked team for the Bobcats this season, but the fourth in the past two seasons.

“I really don’t think the team knew that Baylor was ranked coming into today’s game,” said head coach Ricci Woodard. “We don’t pay attention to who is in the other dugout; we just come out in play.”

Texas State started the game off with Anna Hernandez, Chandler Hall and Haley Lemons all being walked by Baylor pitcher Courtney Repka, loading the bases with just one out in the first.

Baack grounded out to shortstop, but not before driving in Hernandez to give the Bobcats a 1-0 edge. Repka escaped with what could have been a detrimental inning, by only allowing one Bobcat to score.

Texas State had a chance in the third inning to put up some more runs when they saw the bases loaded with one out. Unfortunately, Repka dug herself out of the hole by striking out the Bobcats next two batters to come away with zero runs scored.

The Bobcats held the Bears scoreless for five innings before a wild pitch got pass the catcher and Kathy Shelton scored at the plate.

A two-out single by Tiffany Wilson drove in the tying run for the Bears in the top of the seventh forcing the game to eventually go into extra innings.

With the international rule in play, Texas State had bases loaded with one out in the eighth, but the Bears turned a double play after Lindsay Matt popped up to shortstop and Macie Hair was called out at first on the same play.

The Bears were able to tack on the first run in extra innings when Bree Hanafin singled on a bunt, advancing Dani Leal on the play. Hall and the Bobcats were able to come away just giving up one run in the inning, knowing that they needed to score to stay alive in the game.

With one out on the board, Tello doubled to left field making it all the way to third on the throw, while Matt advanced home to tie the game up. With the win on their fingertips and only one out, Hall stepped to the plate laying down the perfect squeeze as Tello scored the winning run.

Credit goes to Bobcat pitcher Chandler Hall who served up a whopping 11 strikeouts in nine innings of play versus the No. 22 ranked Bears. Hall allowed just two earned runs, while walking just one batter in the 37 faced.

“We saw Baylor use the squeeze earlier in the game and it’s one of those things that it’s either going to work or not work,” said Woodard. “The Chandler today is the Chandler that we’re used to seeing. She will be ready every time she steps in the circle.”

Texas State will head to Lake Charles, La. this weekend as they get set to play McNeese State in conference play.

Texas State (8-11) is led by freshman first baseman Haley Lemons who leads the team in batting average (.373). Lemons is on a six-game hitting streak, having already tallied 19 hits and eight runs this season. Also having a solid showing at the plate is pitcher Chandler Hall. Hall is batting .304, with 17 hits. From the circle Hall is 6-5, with an ERA of 3.08 and 91 strikeouts.

Baylor (15-6) will play UTSA tonight, before facing Texas State tomorrow. The Bears are on a six-game win streak headed by Tiffany Wesley. The pitching duo of Whitney Canion and Courtney Repka hold a 13-6 record.

The two teams last met in the 2009 NCAA Regional. Baylor beat Texas State 7-4 in the second round of the regionals. The Bears lead the all-time series, 22-8, but Texas State has won two of the last three meetings.

Texas State will hit the road this weekend to continue conference play as it travels to Lake Charles, La. to play McNeese State on March 13-14.