MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team topped Texas State with a 10-2 run-rule victory in six innings Saturday afternoon at the ULM Softball Complex. The Warhawks (20-15, 6-8) tied their Sun Belt Conference season high with 10 runs coming off 10 hits for their 20^th win of 2022. The 10 runs mark the second-highest total scored vs. the Bobcats (20-17, 6-8) in the series history.
 
"I couldn't be more proud," said ULM head coach Molly Fichtner. "We had great starting pitching out of Victoria (Abrams) and we had clutch hitting all day long, up and down the lineup. We had quality at-bats when runners were in scoring position. We've got to clean up our defense a little bit more, but at the end of the day, we'll take the win and be ready to go tomorrow. We can't let up."
 
Victoria Abrams (6-3) pitched the complete game, striking out five and allowing two runs and six hits for the win. She worked her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the second with a strikeout and ground out as Texas State left nine stranded in six innings.
 
At the plate, Kennedy Johnson went 3-for-4 for four RBI off two doubles and a home run. Three Warhawks, Alexis Chavez, Lourdes Bacon and Korie Kreps each scored two runs in the game. Chavez, who had two doubles and two RBI, and Bacon each went 2-for-3. Korie Kreps went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a walk.
 
Bobcat designated player Caitlyn Rogers crossed the plate for Texas State's first run after the Bobcats loaded the bases in the second inning. Ciara Trahan drove in the Bobcats' second run with a single in the fourth inning after when Kylie George's single, followed by a Warhawk error and a fielder's choice put George in scoring position.
 
The Warhawks responded to the Bobcats' first run with one of their own in the bottom of the second. Lourdes Bacon led off with a double and stole third base before coming home on a Kennedy Page ground out.
 
ULM's bats lit up with two outs in the fourth inning. After Kennedy Page walked and stole second, Alexis Chavez hit an RBI double to left center to give the Warhawks a 2-1 lead. Korie Kreps singled down the right field line to plate Chavez and Johnson hit her third home run of the season for a 5-2 ULM lead.
 
In the fifth inning, the Warhawk bats were still hot as ULM scored four more runs. Lourdes Bacon led off the inning with a single and scored after Page doubled with two outs. Page advanced to third on a Bobcat fielding error and came home when Chavez hit her second double of the day. Kreps was issued a four-pitch walk and both Kreps and Chavez scored on a Johnson double for a 9-2 Warhawk advantage.
 
The Warhawks finished the game with a run, and two left on base, after Andie Edwards scored the 10^th run in the sixth inning. Edwards was hit by a pitch and Bacon walked. Both advanced a base on a ground out and Kendall Morton got her first RBI of the season as she brought Edwards across for the run-rule victory at 10-2.
 
Karsen Pierce took the loss (4-4) for the Bobcats, responsible for three earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. Presley Glende faced eight batters and gave up four hits and four earned runs. Kaitlyn Dutton finished the game with two runs scored during her two-thirds-inning appearance.
 
The last time ULM defeated Texas State twice in the same season was in 2015 when the Warhawks beat the Bobcats 7-4 in the second game of a two-game series and then won 3-0 in a Sun Belt Conference Championship game in May 2015. Following a seven-year hiatus from play from 2007-2014, ULM last won two games in a series from Texas State in 2006 when the Warhawks won three-straight games in a four-game home-and-away series.
 
The series finale between ULM and Texas State is set for Sunday, April 10 at noon CT. The link for live stats is available on the softball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.