Trinity Softball Splits With Southwestern, Clinches West Division

San Antonio - The Tiger softball team clinched the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference West Division title with a split against Southwestern University on Sunday, winning 3-2 in the opener, and losing 5-2 in the second game.

Trinity edges Southwestern for the division with a 13-3 conference record, as well as an overall record of 26-12 this season.

In the two games, Karen MacPherson tied Trinity's all-time record for hits, recording her 188th career hit.  MacPherson is already Trinity's career leader in runs, steals, and at-bats.

In the opening game, Southwestern took the lead twice over Trinity, starting with a run in the third that broke a scoreless tie.  The Tigers quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. 

In the fifth, Southwestern again pulled ahead with a single run, but this time, Trinity took its first lead with a two-run fifth inning that proved to be the difference.  The victory clinched the SCAC West Division for the Tigers, which is the team's first division title since 2008.

Sydney Friday (14-6) earned her third complete-game victory of the weekend, giving up just two runs on 10 hits, and striking out two batters.  She was helped by the Tiger defense, which turned three double plays in the game.

Trinity scored three runs on just five hits, with the eventual game-winning run coming in on Megan Russell's RBI single.  Russell broke Trinity's career RBI record yesterday, adding another to her total in today's doubleheader.

MacPherson and Chrissy Armstrong also drove in runs, while MacPherson, Rachel Garrett, and Brooke Sanchez scored the three Tiger runs.

In the second game, Trinity opened with a run in the first inning, but this time it was Southwestern that bounced back to tie it in the next half-inning.  After the Tigers pulled back ahead with another run in the second, Southwestern took the lead for good with a two-run home run in the third inning.

The Pirates added two insurance runs in the seventh, and held a 12-10 edge in hits in the second game.  Trinity stranded 11 runners in the second game.

Lindsay Weyand was 3-4 with one RBI for the Tigers, while MacPherson was 2-4 with a run scored.  Armstrong picked up another RBI in the second game, while Garrett came in to score another run in the finale.

Trinity has earned a first-round bye in next weekend's SCAC Tournament, and will play the winner of the #2 East and #3 West seeds at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 27.