LAFAYETTE, La. — A quality pitchers’ duel between Texas State’s Jessica Mullins and Louisiana’s Summer Ellyson turned sour as the Ragin’ Cajuns struck for seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the sixth to take the series finale, 8-0, on Sunday afternoon.
No. 14/17 Louisiana (34-7, 16-2) took an early one-run lead in the bottom of the first off Mullins (14-5) when Ciara Bryan, who walked to start the game and stole second before advancing to third on a throwing error, scored from third off a single by Kaitlyn Alderink, who advanced to second on a throw to the plate.
From there, Louisiana did not register a base hit until Bryan had a two-out single through the right side in the bottom of the third.
The top of the fourth inning was the lone frame where Texas State had a scoring opportunity off Ellyson (15-4) as freshman Hannah Earls extended her career-long on-base streak to 19 games when she singled a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line. Fellow freshman Piper Randolph moved Earls to second on a sacrifice bunt.
However, Earls was left in scoring position as Oltmann popped out to centerfield and Sara Vanderford went down swinging to end the inning.
The Ragin’ Cajuns head into the sixth inning having scored only one run on just two hits, before Bryan’s two-run home run in the inning forced a Bobcat pitching change. Texas State was forced to make a third change in the circle two batters later, before Julie Rawls hit a two-run single through the right side to extend Louisiana’s lead to 5-0.
Three batters later, Karly Heath pushed an 0-2 pitch through the left side for another two-run hit, before Jenna Kean dropped a suicide squeeze bunt to score Kendall Talley and force the conclusion of the game.
Mullins, despite only going five full innings on Sunday afternoon, did strikeout four Louisiana batters a day after becoming the first Sun Belt pitcher this season to strikeout five Ragin’ Cajuns batters in a single game.
Texas State (27-8, 9-5) will return to action on Wednesday, April 21 when the Bobcats travel to Austin to play the nationally-ranked Texas Longhorns for the second time this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The two teams squared off earlier this season with then-No. 7 Texas earning a one-run win in the bottom of the eighth inning as Mullins threw a career-long 7.2 innings of scoreless softball.
