Texas State softball takeaways: Bobcats claim series over ULM with run-rule victory

San Marcos — Texas State opened Sun Belt Conference play by taking two of three from Louisiana-Monroe at Bobcat Softball Stadium, sealing the set with a 10-2 run-rule triumph Sunday that ended in the fifth inning on Megan Kelnar’s bases-loaded walk.

The weekend began with drama Friday night. Kelnar’s RBI single in extra innings delivered a 1-0 walk-off win, but ULM responded Saturday with a 6-3 decision to force the rubber match. In that decider, the Bobcats pounded out 13 hits and scored in every inning but the fourth, cruising to the eight-run margin that invoked the run-rule when Kelnar watched ball four.

“We cruised into the first one, we let them steal the second one,” head coach Ricci Woodard said. “I’m hoping that today we made the point that we’re better than what we played on Friday and Saturday.”

Aiyana Coleman, the infielder ULM dared to pitch to in 2025, saw only two hittable balls all weekend. The Warhawks walked her 10 times—six intentionally—yet she still homered in her lone official at-bat Sunday and finished 1-for-2 with three runs scored.

In the circle, Madison Azua logged 15 innings across the series. She fired seven shutout frames in the opener and returned Sunday to allow two runs on six hits over five innings. ULM managed just 11 hits in the first two games combined, a testament to Azua’s change-up that confounded hitters even after two days of film study.

“For her still to go out and do what she does against people that have already seen her, it’s pretty amazing,” Woodard said.

Game 2 belonged to ULM after it chased starter Emma Strood in the second inning. The Warhawks tagged her for six hits and four runs, three earned, in 1⅔ innings. Texas State’s bullpen—Abigail Jennings, Chesney Davis and Kailee Withrell—limited further damage, surrendering only four hits and two runs the rest of the way. Offensively the Bobcats put 13 runners on base via seven hits and seven walks but stranded 11, a lapse Woodard said her team cannot repeat.

“We can’t afford to go into anything that doesn’t have that kind of pressure to it,” she said.

With the series win, Texas State moves to 2-1 in league play and sends an early message in the Sun Belt race.