TROY, Ala.  – The Troy softball team dropped the series opener to Texas State 11-7 on Friday night. Despite scoring seven runs off reigning Sun Belt Conference pitcher of the week Madison Azua, the Trojans (25-15, 5-8 SBC) were overwhelmed by nine unanswered runs from the Bobcats (26-16, 7-6 SBC).
 
Mia Tidmore recorded another two-hit game from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Batting right behind her, Makaley Boswell annihilated a fourth-inning homer and took a walk, scoring two runs. Also logging a two-hit game for the Trojans was Megan Loftis.
 
Texas State started out strong with a walk and an infield single in the first. A leaping grab from Presley Ivey and an inning-ending strikeout helped Abby Lovell escape the jam. Troy took the lead early in the first, as Tidmore got it started with an infield single.
 
After a walk and a double steal, Tidmore scored on a passed ball, and the Trojans added another on a Texas State error to make it 2-0. Lovell struck out another in a scoreless second inning.
 
In the second, the Troy offense went right back to work with back-to-back singles from Loftis and Ella Cunningham. The Trojans made it 3-0 on another error by the Texas State catcher. Tidmore punched a fielder’s choice to second base — after Cunningham scored, a throwing error allowed the Trojans to make it 5-0 with another run.
 
Lovell worked around a little traffic on the basepaths in the third to hang another zero. While Ivey had an infield single in the bottom half, the Trojans couldn’t extend the lead.
 
The Bobcats got on the board in the fourth, scoring on an RBI single after loading the bases. A sacrifice fly made it 5-2 and ended Lovell’s day. Mya Holt entered in relief and ended the frame with a fielder’s choice.
 
Boswell jumped on the first pitch she saw for a two-run homer in the fourth after McKinnon Howard reached on a dropped third strike. The laser to left made it 7-2 Trojans.
 
Texas State fought back in the fifth against Savannah Money, as Aiyana Coleman crushed her 11th home run of the year to cut the deficit to 7-5. Cunningham entered in relief and got a quick out to end the inning.
 
Another hit by Loftis didn’t amount to anything in the bottom half, and Cunningham went back out to the circle for the sixth. The Bobcats took the lead with four more runs in the sixth inning.
 
Singles from Howard, Tidmore and Huffman juiced the bases for Kalee Rochinski, but she struck out to end the inning. The Bobcats iced it in the seventh inning with a two-run homer to make it 11-7.
 
Quotable: Head Coach Eric Newell
“It stings a little extra losing a 7-2 lead through four innings. Not being able to hold on or close out late hurts. The team is hurting, but credit to Texas State for putting up 16 hits on us. They were tough outs and they didn’t give up even though they fell behind. It’s a new day tomorrow and we scored a lot of runs on their ace.”
 
Notables


The Trojans are 13-25-1 against Texas State all-time
Makaley Boswell stole her team-leading 17th base of the season
Boswell hit her seventh home run of the season
Boswell recorded her 11th multi-RBI game of the year
Mia Tidmore extended her hitting streak to a career-high nine games
Tidmore logged her 10th multi-hit game of the season
Megan Loftis extended her reached base streak to 10 games
Loftis recorded her sixth multi-hit game of the season, and fourth in the last six games
Kiley Huffman extended her reached base streak to 11 games