SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Softball begins the 2023 season Friday afternoon at McMurry University with the first of five straight road doubleheaders against representatives from the American Southwest Conference (ASC). The season-opening trip to Abilene, Texas will feature an overnight stay for a Saturday doubleheader at Hardin-Simmons University.
The Tigers enter the new season returning six All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference selections from 2022, led by sophomore catcher/third baseman
Jessie Lloyd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills). Lloyd led Trinity's offense with a .352 batting average and was one of two everyday starters to log an on-base percentage over .400.
Junior first baseman
Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Valley Charter) and sophomore shortstop
Alexa Saucedo (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen) represent returners from the 2022 All-SCAC second team. Williams tied for the team lead with 15 extra-base hits last season while logging a .984 fielding percentage through 44 appearances; Saucedo collected six doubles in 18 hits through 33 appearances last season, crossing the plate 15 times.
Junior shortstop/third baseman
Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) returns as Trinity's leader in run production from 2022 as an All-SCAC honorable mention, leading the Tigers with 28 RBI and 21 runs scored while tying Williams with 15 extra-base hits including a team-high six home runs. Delaluna was also a first-team All-SCAC recipient in 2021.
Trinity Softball opens the 2023 season on the road through its first ten contests before returning to San Antonio to host Babson College (MA) February 26.
Preview: A Weekend in Abilene
On the Warhawks: The future member of the SCAC was picked to finish fifth in the ASC by its coaches this preseason in a league that featured two of its members in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings.
Alongside the ASC's preseason poll, the conference aided in this week's preview by highlighting senior pitcher Jenna Lewis and junior outfielder Angelica Abila as McMurry's players to watch this season.
Lewis logged a 9-6 record with a 2.00 earned-run average through 94.1 innings in 2022 as a transfer from Kilgore College, where she spent her previous two seasons. Abila posted a .383 batting average last season including 14 doubles in her 46 hits and a .472 on-base percentage.
On the Cowgirls: One of the squads listed ahead of McMurry in the ASC poll was its crosstown rival, Hardin-Simmons, listed third behind last year's No. 15 East Texas Baptist University and No. 18 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor—two teams Trinity will visit before February concludes.
A trio of Cowgirls were named to the ASC's preseason watch list including senior pitchers Kaylen Washington and Haven Williams. The duo combined for 29 of 44 decisions last season and 175 innings pitched. Williams led the way between the duo with a 2.91 ERA in 2022.
Trinity has won eight of the last nine matchups with Hardin-Simmons dating back to the 2012 campaign, winning all of the last three games played in Abilene.
Looking Ahead: The ASC Gauntlet, First Home Games
Trinity Softball will play four of the ASC's top five teams per the 2023 preseason poll as visits to East Texas Baptist and Mary Hardin-Baylor lie ahead of the opening weekend as part of the Tigers' 10-game road stretch to open the 2023 season.
The February 26 matchup with last season's No. 25 squad, Babson, sets off a six-game homestand that includes visits from Hanover College (IN) March 3 and Piedmont University (GA)—ranked 20
th nationally to end 2022—March 11.
