Texas State Bobcats
Overall Rank: #37
Conference Rank: #2 Sun Belt
Texas State is coming off of one its most successful seasons in school history. The Bobcats bring back an experienced squad this season. While they only have six seniors on the roster, only two were regular starters last season. That means that many of last season's sophomores and freshmen are battle-tested and looking to carry Texas State into uncharted territory this season. Of course, having one of the country's best and underrated pitchers in Randi Rupp is a big help as well. Plus, she's under some pretty good tutelage in assistant coach Cat Osterman.
2016: 40-22, 15-9
2016 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Ricci Woodard
Key Departed Players:
Kelli Baker, 2B, .292 BA, 10 2B, 30 RBI, 57 H, 10 SB
Kendall Wiley, 1B, .263 BA, 8 2B, 5 HR
Key Returning Players:
Randi Rupp, P, 1.66 ERA, 355 K, 265 IP
Ariel Ortiz, SS, .275 BA, 49 H, 6 HR, 37 RBI
Corrina Liscano, 3B, .292, 47 H, 6 HR, 32 RBI
Taylor Webb, UTL, .311 BA, 12 2B, 47 H, 32 RBI
Projection:
The Bobcats picked up their first NCAA Tournament win since 2012, also the last time they participated in the tournament, last year. Last year's team also became the fourth in school history to win 40 or more games, the first since 2009. Rupp also became only the second Bobcat to win 30 games, with the last one being in 2003. She's one of the country's best pitchers and will be Texas State's ace again this season. The Bobcats are also lucky to have four of their top five hitters returning to a squad that scored 100 runs more than it let up (257-157). Kelli Baker might be tough to replace, but Texas State has to pieces to weather the loss. The team got a break from the scheduling gods, getting Louisiana at home in the middle of April,
Projected Postseason: NCAA Softball Tournament
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