The stars had aligned for a special season at Texas State and the Bobcats were more than ready for the challenge. Needless to say, the Bobcats passed with flying colors. 

Behind a three RBI performance from first baseman J.J. Smith, Texas State defeated their longtime nemesis the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 9-5 to bring home the Bobcats first conference tournament title since 2018. 

Celebrating in front of their own home crowd during graduation, which many of the seniors missed, Texas State and Head Ricci Woodard are back in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. 

“We had been throwing punches and getting punched back,” Woodard said. “Today was going to be one of those days. In that case, you have to go one pitch at a time. Even [Jessica] Mullins during the sixth inning said ‘Alright one pitch at a time’. That is when the stress hits and you start worrying about counts. I thought we did a really good job of continuing to battle and work one pitch at a time.”

Texas State got off to a hot start in the first inning, captializing on two Louisiana errors to load up bases. 

Right fielder Anna Jones scored the first run of the game hitting a RBI single into center field, putting the Bobcats up 1-0. 

Center fielder Piper Randolph tacked on another run, hitting a sacrifice fly to extend the lead 2-0. 

Texas State then captilaized Louisiana’s third error of the inning. An infield single by catcher Karmyn Bass was not fielded cleanly by the Cajun infield allowing Bass to reach base safely while another run scored to make it 3-0. 

Despite being down 3-0, Louisiana was not out of the fight. The Cajuns responded with a two-run RBI single in the bottom of the first before hitting a two-run RBI triple to take back the lead at 4-3. 

As the Bobcats trailed going into the top of the fourth inning, third baseman Sara Vanderford knew the team had to keep up being the aggressor. 

“You saw it when they put up two runs in two different innings and then we were down all of sudden,” Vanderord said. “They take what you give them and run with it. So keeping our aggressive mindset and being the aggressors while not waiting back on our heels put us in a position to win that game.”

Bass reached base following catcher’s interference followed by an infield single by left fielder Sidney Harvey. 

Shortstop Hannah Earls loaded up the bases with a bunt single as Texas State looked to retake the lead. 

Designated player Emilee Baker took back the lead for the Bobcats, hitting a RBI single and keeping the bases loaded. 

Vanderford hit a sac fly deep into center field to score Harvey, pushing the lead to 5-3. 

Jones tacked on the final run of the game with an RBI single before the Cajuns got the final out at the plate, making it a 6-4 game. 

Keeping Louisiana off the scoreboard, Texas State looked to add on to their lead. 

Randolph started the inning with a leadoff single to bring up Smith at the plate as Louisiana opted to switch pitchers going from Chloe Riassetto to Sam Landry, who started the game. 

With one swing of the bat, Smith connected with a two-run home run over the wall in left field. 

“I knew she wanted to get ahead of me [in the count],” Smith said. “The last couple of at-bats a couple of weeks ago, she pretty much owned me. I knew if she was trying to get ahead of me, I had to be first pitch swinging.”

Louisiana tacked on another run only for Smith to hit an RBI single to make the score 9-5. 

In the bottom of the 7th with Louisiana trying to stage a late comeback, Texas State slammed the door shut. 

The Bobcats got the final three outs before rushing the field to celebrate winning the first tournament championship since 2018. 

Smith, Vanderford and starting pitcher Jessica Mullins were named to the All-Tournament team with Vanderford winning the Most Outstanding Player award for the tournament. 

Even though Vanderford was unable to walk at her own graduation, the moment was more than worth it. 

“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” Vanderford said. “I said two weeks ago that I wasn’t buying a cap and gown because we were going to be in this spot. To actually say it, for it to happen and have a team of 22 girls who actually buy into that while having your back no matter what, is huge. It’s special and that is why this team is the way we are.”

With the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Bobcats will see where they land tomorrow during the NCAA Selection Show. 

Junior shortstop ties single-season, school record with his 19th home run

STATESBORO, Ga. – Junior shortstop Kyle DeBarge etched his name into the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball record book with his 19th home run of the season before his two-out, RBI single in the top of the ninth broke a 4-4 deadlock and led No. 22 Louisiana to a 6-4 win against Georgia Southern on Saturday at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Ben Robichaux and Jose Torres each drove in runs as Louisiana (37-15, 20-6 SBC) maintained its three-game lead over Troy and Southern Miss in the Sun Belt Conference standings with four league games remaining.

The final game of the three-game series will start on Sunday at noon CDT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

DeBarge hit a solo home run in the third inning off Georgia Southern starter Ty Fisher for his 19th home run of the season, giving Louisiana a 3-0 lead and tying him with David King (1989) and David Alvis (1985) for the most in the school’s rich baseball history.

His game-winning heroics in the ninth came Bryan Broussard, Jr., reached on a one-out single to chase Georgia Southern reliever Mitchell Gross (2-4) before Conor Higgs drew a two-out walk off southpaw Jacob Phillips.

DeBarge then lifted a 1-and-1 pitch from Phillips into right field for his second hit of the day and allowing Broussard to score from second ahead of a throw by right-fielder Sam Blancato. The Ragin’ Cajuns would add an insurance run when Higgs scored from third after a Phillips wild pitch.

Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Taylor reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on a walk to Caleb Stelly. Ben Robichaux, whose first hit of the season was a grand slam in Friday’s 19-3 win, then singled up the middle to drive in Taylor before Stelly would score from third on Torres’ sacrifice bunt up the first-base line.

Taylor gave Louisiana a 4-0 lead in the third when he reached on an error, moved to third on Stelly’s single up the middle and scored on a wild pitch.

Georgia Southern chipped away at the lead scoring three runs in the sixth inning after Sean Smith’s double to center drove in Blancato and Jarrett Brown. TJ McKenzie would drive in Sean White with a sacrifice fly to right before Louisiana reliever Blake McGehee fanned Cade Parker to end the threat.

Blancato, who went 3-for-4 to lead Georgia Southern at the plate then tied the game in the seventh when his two-out, solo homer to right cleared the wall in right.

JT Etheridge (3-2) earned the win for Louisiana after pitching 1.2 innings of no-hit relief with three strikeouts. The senior right-hander relieved McGehee in the eighth after Smith singled and moved up on an error before getting thrown out at third trying to advance on a wild pitch.

Etheridge would then end the inning striking out McKenzie before retiring three straight batters in the ninth after issuing a leadoff walk to Parker.

Chase Morgan struck out nine batters and scattered four hits in 5.0 scoreless innings for Louisiana. McGehee, the third of four pitchers used by the Ragin’ Cajuns, struck out two and allowed a run in 2.0 innings of relief.

DeBarge and Taylor had two hits each for Louisiana, which held a 9-8 advantage at the plate and stranded nine runners, while Trey LaFleur went 1-for-5 with double while Duncan Pastore added an eighth-inning single to extend his hit streak to a team-high nine games.

Single-game tickets are available by visiting the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome or purchasing by visiting Account Manager. For more information call the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome at (337) 265-2104.

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin’ Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

For the latest updates on Ragin’ Cajuns baseball, follow on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.

“What the heck is making Montana drivers so unnecessarily angry?” That’s the question posed by Jalopnik after viewing ConsumerAffairs’ latest ranking of states where drivers are, shall we say, a little hot behind the wheel. Montana comes in third on that list, which ConsumerAffairs culled by looking at stats on speeding, reckless driving, car accidents, traffic fatalities, and road rage incidents in which people whipped out firearms. At the top of the list, and even worse than Montana: Louisiana, where “aggressive and careless driving behaviors are a factor in 62.2% of Louisiana’s accidents,” per ConsumerAffairs. Here, the 10 states with the most aggressive folks behind the wheel:

1. Louisiana
2. New Mexico
3. Montana
4. Colorado
5. Arkansas
6. New Jersey
7. North Carolina
8. Delaware
9. Wisconsin
10. Georgia

More here on the details for each state. (More drivers stories.)