SAN MARCOS – The Sam Houston softball team found itself in an early hole it could not dig out of on Thursday, falling 10-0 in five innings, to Texas State at Bobcat Field on the opening day of the TXST Tournament. 

Texas State (6-1) got to Sam Houston (0-3) starter Mika Vento for five runs in the opening inning and added another in the second before scratching the scoreboard four more times in the fourth to put the game out of reach. 

Hannah Scheaffer went 2-for-2 in the abbreviated affair, recording the only two hits of the game for the Kats, including a double in the top of the fifth. That was all Sam Houston could muster against the Bobcat pitching staff as starter Jessica Mullins retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work for the win, and Presley Glende closed it out with the final three outs.  

Meanwhile, Vento struck out four in 3.1 innings, but was saddled with the loss after allowing eight of Texas State's 10 runs. Freshman Amy Abke came on in relief in the fourth, striking out one in 0.2 innings of work. 

The Bearkats will continue the TXST Tournament on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. when it takes on Texas Tech. They will then play a pair of games vs Northern Colorado on Saturday before closing out the weekend with a single game against Tulsa on Sunday.

NOTES
- Hannah Scheaffer's 2-for-2 effort was her first multi-hit game of the season and the 23rd of her career
- Scheaffer now has 96 hits for her career, needing four more to reach 100
- Mika Vento added four strikeouts to her career total and now needs six more to reach 200 punchouts in her career