Late rally lifts Texas State over Penn State in NCAA Tournament opener

Using a sixth inning rally, Texas State defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 4-2 in the opening game of the Bryan-College Station Regional for the NCAA Tournament. 

Texas State will advance to play Texas A&M on Saturday. 

“[It was about] staying focused and not making the moment any bigger than it was,” third baseman Sara Vanderford said. “Whenever you have a pitcher like Jess who throws a great game and one pitch beats her, it is hard to see her go down. Having her back was the biggest thing to me. Even though it is one pitch, she is going to wear that because that is who Jess is. It is a team effort and you saw everyone come up big. At the end of the day, everyone is playing for each other.”

The Bobcats and the Nittany Lions were deadlocked in a scoreless draw through the first three innings.

 In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Bobcats finally broke through. After a leadoff walk from catcher Karmyn Bass, while moving to second on the sacrifice bunt, leadoff hitter Hannah Earls scored Bass on the RBI single to make it 1-0. 

Penn State was able to get on the board in the sixth inning. 

Following a leadoff double, Nittany Lion second baseman Maddie Gordon delivered a gutpunch, hitting a two-run home run over the scoreboard in left field.

With Penn State up 2-1, the Bobcats needed a response on offense. 

“This was our game,” Vanderford said at the group meeting following the top of the sixth inning. “All year we found a way to win. We fought through the hard [parts] and did the little things. That is what beat us in the third and fourth innings. We had momentum in those at-bats and whenever you can learn from that, you get an inning where Karmyn Bass gets on base and Kat Zarate moves her over. Even if we don’t score that inning, we are picking up on the things that are going to get us in the right direction.”

The Bobcats put runners on base following infield singles from left fielder Sidney Harvey and Earls. 

With runners on first and second, Vanderford tied the game at 2-2, hitting an RBI double into left field and putting runners on second and third. 

The Bobcats continued their offensive hot streak in the next at-bat. Right fielder Anna Jones connected with a RBI single to score Earls while taking second in the process to make it a 3-2 game. 

Center fielder Piper Randolph continued to put it on the Penn State defense for the Bobcat offense. The senior infielder hit an infield RBI single to extend the lead 4-2 before Penn State could get the final out.

“We are never out,” Head Coach Ricci Woodard said. “That is the thing I like about [this team] the most. At this point of the season, you are going to get punched. So you need to punch back.”

Heading into the top of the 7th inning, Texas State led 4-2. 

After giving up the two-run home run, starting pitcher Jessica Mullins looked to hand the Nittany Lions the loss. 

Pitching a 1-2-3 inning, Mullins closed out the game, ending on a strikeout to seal the Bobcats 4-2 win. 

“That is Jessica Mullins all year long,” Woodard said. “She is one of those people that are going to punch back. I think she threw harder and better after the homer which is typical of Jessica Mullins. Once you get her fired up, you have a whole different level to deal with.”

Texas State goes into the winner’s side of the bracket where the Bobcats will face-off with the Texas A&M Aggies. 

Both teams met in the regular season, ending with the Bobcats beating the Aggies on a walk-off error. In last year’s NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M handed Texas State two losses to eliminate the Bobcats. 

First pitch is set for 2 p.m. tomorrow.