SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Softball will battle a pair of programs ranked nationally in the preseason by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association this weekend as it visits No. 18 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Saturday to complete a season-opening 10-game road stretch ahead of the 2023 home-opener with No. 20 Babson College (MA) Sunday.
The Tigers enter the weekend seeking their first victory after four straight one-run outings in Abilene, Texas opening weekend, followed by visits to No. 13 East Texas Baptist University and LeTourneau University.
Sunday's home-opener will be the grand opening for the renovated Trinity Softball Field, the first of three straight home doubleheaders with visits from Hanover College (IN) March 3 and No. 25 Piedmont University (GA) March 11 ahead of the first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend at Southwestern University March 17-18.
Updating the Record Book…
Junior
Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) enters Saturday's doubleheader tied for second in career home runs at Trinity (14) with Lauren Mercado '15 and just one shy of the mark set by Caitlynn Dykes '15.
To this point, Delaluna has appeared in 79 games for the Tigers, and hit her 14
th home run in just her 73
rd appearance—at Hardin-Simmons University on February 11. In contrast, Mercado hit home run No. 14 in her 154
th contest while Dykes set the program record in her 148
th game.
Preview: at No. 18 UMHB (Feb. 25), v. No. 20 Babson (Feb. 26)
In back-to-back seasons, Trinity will battle the Crusaders and Beavers on back-to-back days as this Saturday represents a return trip to Belton, Texas while Babson visits the Lone Star State for a SCAC mini-circuit that features stops to Schreiner University and No. 3 Texas Lutheran University ahead of its final stop in San Antonio Sunday.
On the Crusaders: Mary Hardin-Baylor will make a quick trip to Georgetown Thursday night for a one-off with Southwestern before hosting the Tigers Saturday. The Cru opened the 2023 campaign last weekend with a hotly contested split with University of St. Thomas that featured an eight-inning 1-0 victory ahead of a 4-2 decision in favor of the Celts.
Picked to finish second in the American Southwest Conference this season—behind No. 13 ETBU—the ASC's preseason Players to Watch list featured a pair of senior outfielders, Lexi Harris and Izzy Gutierrez, and senior infielder Elissa Elliot. Harris entered 2023 as an all-region selection and led UMHB in nearly every batting category last season while Gutierrez and Elliot each made the All-ASC second team.
In addition, senior pitcher Kami Flores was named the ASC Pitcher of the Week as she pitched the eight-inning shutout of St. Thomas with just three baserunners (two hits, one walk) to seven strikeouts.
On the Beavers: Babson opens its 2023 slate with Friday's visit to Kerrville, and will have battled in Seguin ahead of Sunday's twinbill—the same opening weekend from 2022, aside from seeing the Mountaineers prior to the Bulldogs. The Beavers have appeared in back-to-back NCAA III tournaments and have amassed a 53-13 record since the start of the 2021 season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Babson earned seven of 10 first-place votes in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) preseason coaches poll as the league's favorite for the conference title. In all, the program returns seven starters from last season's quad that set the school record for 19 straight victories.
While low-hanging fruit of sorts, the clear player to watch for the Beavers is reigning NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year, junior Moira O'Reilly, who was named a top-10 Pitcher to Watch in NCAA III this season by FloSoftball.com. O'Reilly posted a 22-5 record last season with a 1.90 earned-run average on 169.2 innings-pitched with 250 strikeouts. In last season's visit, O'Reilly posted 10 punchouts to one hit in five innings in the first contest, then closed the second with three strikeouts to just one hit over the final five outs.
Looking Ahead: Home, Sweet Home and the SCAC Schedule
Trinity Softball will stay home for its next two opponents after Babson as the Tigers host Hanover (March 3) and No. 25 Piedmont (March 11). The visit to Southwestern opens the conference slate March 17 with six straight on the road with a visit to Schreiner the following weekend.
The final non-conference battle of the 2023 campaign will take place Thursday, March 30 as Trinity will host DePauw University (IN), the No. 22 squad in NCAA III in the final NFCA poll for the 2022 season.
