SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's softball team finished off a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series with a 6-5 victory over Schreiner University on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 11-16 overall and 6-3 in league play this season, while Schreiner fell to 6-21 and 3-6 in SCAC. Trinity clinched the regular season series with the win as the team's split Saturday's doubleheader to begin the weekend's action.

Trinity took a 4-0 lead in the third inning, but Schreiner chipped away slowly to come all the way back with two runs in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. The Tigers rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, then escaped with the win as a Schreiner error allowed the winning run to score.

Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) had a pair of hits and also scored two runs – including the game-tying run after leading off the seventh with a single to start the Tiger rally. Cat Patterson (West Columbia, Texas / Brazosport Christian School) earned the win with a complete-game effort, improving to 8-7 this season.

Trinity will be on the road for its next SCAC series, heading to North Texas to take on the University of Dallas for a three-game weekend series. That series begins with a Saturday doubleheader, then concludes with a single game on Sunday afternoon.

The Rundown

Both teams had runners on base in each of the first three innings, but it wasn't until the bottom of the third that one of them scored. That team was the Tigers, who scored in a big way with four runs on five hits to take control of the game.

Jessica Lloyd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills) got the inning started with a single up the middle, then moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Delaluna broke up the shutout with her RBI double to right-center. Two batters later, Diamond Elizondo (San Antonio, Texas / Stevens) got a double of her own to drive in two more runs to make it 3-0 Tigers. Brianna Pena (La Porte, Texas / La Porte) joined the doubles party to trade places with Elizondo and close out Trinity's prolific inning.

Schreiner loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth, but managed just one run in the inning as Patterson was able to escape without any major damage. The Mountaineers took advantage of Trinity errors to score unearned runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to cut the lead to just 4-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) smashed a double off the fence in left field to lead off the sixth, but she was erased on a double play and the score remained 4-3.

Patterson got the first two batters out to open the seventh, but a two-out walk set the table for a two-run homer by Schreiner that gave the visitors their first lead of the day. Patterson got out of the inning without any more damage, setting up the final-inning dramatics for the Tigers.

Delaluna ripped her second hit of the day past the bag at third to open the inning, then moved to second on a single from Dawson Dabboussi (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park). Pinch-hitter Lanie Smith (Foxfield, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) came to the plate next, promptly slashing the third pitch she saw up the middle past a diving shortstop, and Delaluna raced for home to tie the game. Dabboussi was thrown out trying to move to third on the throw home for the first out of the inning.

After a strikeout, Pena fouled off three straight pitches with a full count before drawing a walk to put two runners on base. A wild pitch then put the runners at second and third, then Watson hit a sharp grounder to third that was mishandled and the winning run scored easily to end the game.

Numbers to Note

Five different Tiger players had two hits each in the game, while Trinity also hit four doubles.

Delaluna finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Elizondo had two hits and two RBI. Lloyd and Dabboussi both went 2-for-4, while Pena was 2-for-3 with a double.

Delaluna increased her season total to a team-best 17 RBI and 14 runs scored. She is also second among Tiger hitters with her six doubles on the year.

Lloyd remains the top hitter on the Tiger team this season with her .398 batting average.

Patterson notched her 11th complete game in 16 starts and she has piled up more than 100 innings pitched this season.

Up Next

Trinity will travel to Irving, Texas, for its next SCAC series at the University of Dallas. The series begins with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader that begins at 12:00 p.m.