By MARK CAUL
It may have taken a little longer than they had anticipated but the Texas State Bobcats finally showed why they are one of the top teams in the Southland Conference.
Sophomore first baseman Haley Lemons lofted a sacrifice fly into shallow left field to score Brooke Baker from third base at the bottom of the tenth inning as Texas State outlasted McNeese State 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Bobcat Softball Field in San Marcos.
“I was just trying to hit a long fly ball to the outfield because Brooke is so fast and that’s what we needed,” Lemons said. “It was a game we really wanted to win.”
The Bobcats also won the second game 4-2.
Baker’s game winning RBI allowed Texas State (14-13, 7-3 in SLC) to finally capitalize on opportunities that they had squandered throughout the opening game.
Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard could already see the light at the end of the tunnel just before the game winning hit some two and a half hours later.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better situation at the time because we had our fastest runner on base and our best hitter at the plate,” Woodard said. “So it worked out perfectly for us.”
The Bobcats stranded 12 base runners and nearly wasted another outstanding pitching performance from ace Chandler Hall (8-8) who tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out six while going the distance for Texas State.
“I thought Chandler did a great job of keeping us in the game for a long period of time and really didn’t give them a chance to get anything going,” said Woodard. “And then our defense made a couple of key plays when they had to.”
A nifty fielding play by Texas State second baseman and former Hays High School star Anna Hernandez prevented the Cowgirls from breaking through in the top of the fourth inning after McNeese designated player Mykeisha Young reached on an infield single.
McNeese State left fielder Holly Lawrence then punched a sacrifice grounder between second and first base that Hernandez charged and fired to third to catch Young, who had been sprinting towards third base on the play.
Reserve third baseman Shelby Carnline applied to tag to Young, who had overran the bag to halt the only real scoring threat for McNeese State (10-17, 4-6 SLC).
“It was definitely a big play because everybody knew that one run probably would have won the game for either team,” said Hall.
Texas State had a couple of chances of their own in both the fourth and sixth innings – but none bigger than when McKenzie Baack lead off the eighth inning by doubling off the center field wall.
A few pitches later, Hernandez’s sacrifice bunt moved Baack over to third, but both Carnline and Jordan Masek popped out to left field to end the inning.
Baack had two of Texas State’s five hits in the first game.
Things got scary for Texas State fans in the bottom of the same inning when starting third baseman Jenna Emery fouled a pitch off her facemask and immediately crumpled to the ground in pain.
Emery suffered a facial injury and never returned to action for the Bobcats.
“We will see what the medical staff says and go from there,” Woodard said. “Hopefully we will know more in the next few days. But I thought Kristen Carnline stepped in and did a great job filling in for Jenna when she had to.”
In the nightcap, Texas State erased an early 2-0 deficit with a four-run fourth inning with Hall driving in a pair on a one-out double to right and Lemons adding a run scoring single a few pitches later to give the Bobcats a lead they would never relinquish.
Sophomore right hander Anne Marie Taylor (6-3) picked up the win for the Bobcats while freshman Crystal Alaniz collected her third save of the season after pitching three innings of shutout ball.
The Bobcats will host future WAC opponent Houston on Wednesday in a doubleheader beginning at 5pm.
“It’s always fun to play Houston because they’re such a good team,” Hall said. “And we always enjoy playing at home.”
