| San Antonio
- The Trinity
University Tigers softball team secured
a berth in the SCAC Championship tournament with two wins Saturday
afternoon over the Austin College Kangaroos.
Trinity (11-19, 9-5 SCAC) beat the
Kangaroos 5-4 and 9-7 at the Tigers’ field. That means the Tigers, in
second place in the SCAC West Division, have qualified for the six-team,
double-elimination tournament, to be held at Trinity April 24-26.
Trinity’s first-round opponent will be the Millsaps College Majors, at a
time to be determined.
Austin College now stands at 11-23
and 6-8 SCAC. The two teams will conclude the regular season with a
doubleheader Sunday, starting at noon. As the scores indicated,
the games were tightly played.
In the opener, Austin College scored
two runs in the top of the first inning. The Tigers responded with two
runs in the bottom half of the inning, on RBIs by senior shortstop Jamie
Williams and sophomore first baseman Alexa Calderon. Trinity scored a
run in the third inning on an RBI single by Williams. The Tigers took a
4-2 lead in the fourth inning on a SAC bunt by senior second baseman Lee
Smith. The Kangaroos closed the gap to 3-4 with a run in the sixth.
Trinity answered as junior third baseman Christina Carni scored on a
fielding error in the bottom of the sixth. Austin College scored one run
in the seventh, and left two players on base as the game ended.
Carni batted 2-2 with one run
scored. First-year right fielder Karen MacPherson hit 2-4, scored one
run and stole two bases. MacPherson now has 30 stolen bases this season.
Williams went 1-3 with two RBIs. First-year right-hander Brittany Losey
went the distance and picked up the win. Losey, who retired 12 batters
in a row from the second through the fifth innings, allowed four runs,
three hits, seven walks and struck out three hitters. Trinity scored
five runs on nine hits, committed one error and left six players on
base. Austin College made two errors and also stranded six batters.
In the second half of the
doubleheader, the Tigers got first on the board, with three runs in the
third inning. Wright singled to center field for an RBI, and later
scored on a wild pitch. Carni had an RBI with a bases-loaded walk. The
Kangaroos tied the score with three runs in the fifth, and took a 7-3
lead by putting up four runs in the sixth. The tenacious Tigers, though,
took over with six runs of their own: Carni doubled to left center for
three RBIs, Williams had an RBI single, Calderon picked up an RBI on a
fielder’s choice and first-year catcher Savannah Martinez scored on a
wild pitch.
Carni hit 2-3 with four RBIs, and
Williams batted 2-3 with one RBI and two runs.
Junior right-hander Helen Thompson
was the starter, and was relieved in the fifth by Losey, who was
credited with the win for the second time of the day. Losey improved to
9-8. |
