SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Softball improved to five straight victories with a home doubleheader sweep over Howard Payne University in non-conference action Thursday afternoon. The season's first shutout and walk-off wins were logged on the day with the game-one 2-0 tally, then the 4-3 final in game two's extra inning.

The Tigers' (5-12, 3-0 SCAC) midweek pair both went to the credit of senior Cat Patterson (West Columbia, Texas / Brazosport Christian) who posted her first complete-game shutout of 2022 followed by a victorious relief appearance to end the day to even her season record at 4-4.

Game one's offensive output for Trinity came off the bat of sophomore Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Clayton Valley) who blasted her first home run of the year, a two-run shot, down the rightfield line in the fourth inning, which represented the entire scoring summary in the day's first seven innings.

The consistent plate-presence of first-year Abigail Miller (Winnetka, Calif. / El Camino Real) in the afternoon finale set the stage for walk-off as she went 3-for-4 with the bat with both a RBI and a run scored, the final run of the game, on her tally.

Trinity Softball remains in San Antonio this weekend to host Concordia University (TX) Saturday afternoon for the third and fourth games of its current 12-game homestand.

Game One: Trinity 2, Howard Payne 0

Patterson's third straight victory from the circle began with unbreakable execution as she worked to strand four Howard Payne baserunners in scoring position of the first three innings while the Trinity bats still worked to get going.

The senior hurler collected her first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth frame as she forced a double-play grounder up the middle toward Sammie Whitman (Austin, Texas / Lake Travis) for the easy flip to Madison Horn (Schertz, Texas / Clemens) which erased the Yellow Jackets' runner from their lead-off walk.

Despite having baserunners in each of the first three innings, the Tigers still faced a zero in the 'hits' column until Lanie Smith (Foxfield, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) led off the home-half of the fourth with a second-pitch drive through the infield. Just two spots down in the order, Williams was ready to pull her own one-ball pitch straight down the rightfield line.

Over the final three Howard Payne innings, Patterson maintained complete control as just two Yellow Jackets found second base during that time, one of which was doubled-up by Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) in the sixth who fired a laser from centerfield to end the inning on a two-out tag-up attempt from second.

Patterson's first complete-game shutout of 2022 came through six well-scattered base hits and just a pair of free passes.

Game Two: Trinity 4, Howard Payne 3

The Thursday shutout put forth by the Tigers was finally broken up in the first frame of the doubleheader's B-side, now with Emery Boettcher (Fredericksburg, Texas / Fredericksburg) on the rubber for Trinity. Back-to-back infield hits started the inning for the Tiger junior and despite no batted ball getting out of the infield, Howard Payne had stumbled into runners on second and third with two down before a bloop single into right scored the first runs of the day for the Yellow Jackets.

Watson came to her pitcher's defense as game two's lead-off Tiger with a first-pitch double in the right-centerfield gap, then was immediately pushed over by Whitman. Jessica Lloyd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills) joined Watson on the base paths to put runners on the corners which set the stage for a well-executed double-steal that put Trinity on the board right away as well.

Boettcher settled in as additional run support gathered in the background. Four Howard Payne baserunners were stranded by the junior arm over the next three frames, only two pitches put in play during that time found their way into the outfield for base hits.

The offensive cavalry reappeared for Trinity, again in the bottom half of the fourth, this time on two separate knocks. Smith sent a low drive through the left side with one out which granted Leah Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas / East Central) the opportunity to steal second and set up Miller for a game-tying RBI. A wild pitch two batters later pushed Addi Lusk (Austin, Texas / Bowie), now running for Miller, into scoring position for Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) to capitalize with a RBI-double to straightaway center.

Patterson returned to the circle to start the fifth, now with a 3-2 advantage. Boettcher exited with just the first-inning pair on her record and four more hits scattered across her latter three innings. The second appearance of the day for the senior opened with six consecutive groundball outs between the fifth and sixth frames.

Just as the proverbial door had seemingly been slammed shut on the Yellow Jackets, back-to-back base hits brought new life to the visiting bats. Following a sacrifice bunt in the inning's third at-bat, a one-out grounder scored the equalizer in the top of the seventh to extend the afternoon's affair.

The International Run Rule made its first appearance of the Tigers' season as the 3-3 draw carried into extras. Patterson remained in the circle for the eighth and survived runners on the corners with no outs with a double-play at the plate, then ended the inning herself with a quick glove on a liner up the middle.

With Jayla Arenas (Houston, Texas / Dobie) on second to open the home-half of the eighth, another Miller single followed by an empty fielder's choice for Brianna Pena (La Porte, Texas / La Porte) suddenly loaded the bases for the Tigers, which set up a pinch-hit chance for Dawson Dabboussi (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park) which scored Miller on fielding error up the middle to walk-off the doubleheader sweep.

Coach Speak

"Today we had to find creative ways to win," said Head Coach Abby Martin. "Good teams do that. We took advantage of mistakes and It was nice to put a little more pressure on our defense. I'm Looking forward to Saturday."

Up Next

Trinity Softball opened a 12-game, 17-day homestand with Thursday's action as a doubleheader date with Concordia awaits on Saturday for a Noon first pitch.

The Tigers will then host LeTourneau University (TX) for an evening pair on Tuesday, March 15 followed by back-to-back Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series against Southwestern University (March 19-20) and Schreiner University (March 26-27).