SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Softball split its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with Centenary College (LA) Saturday, dropping the opening contest, 7-6, before evening the weekend's three-game set, 6-5.
The Tigers (6-21; 3-5 SCAC) found an elite hitting performance from first-year
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) as she went four-for-four with three RBI in the day's first game, adding a walk and a RBI double in the second.
Junior pitcher
Brooke Porter (Carmel, Ind. / Heritage Christian) collected her first victory since the 2021 season in relief after spending the 2022 campaign sidelined due to injury. Porter pitched a perfect final nine outs in the latter contest—picking up a strikeout—adding to a two-inning appearance in the first contest.
Juniors first baseman
Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Valley Charter) and shortstop
Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) added to the firepower from Lee as Williams tallied three hits and three RBI while Delaluna scored five times representing two RBI each for Lee and Williams, scoring the winning run on a wild pitch.
Trinity Softball returns Sunday for the final outing of the weekend's three-game SCAC series with Centenary, slated for a Noon first pitch.
Game One: Centenary 7, Trinity 6
Junior pitcher
Bella Gutierrez (Devine, Texas / Devine) took the circle for the day's first contest and was immediately met with a determined Centenary lineup, allowing a two-run double in the first, though the Tigers were ready to answer.
Lee and Williams responded with opposite-field base hits with Williams driving in first-year centerfielder
Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods), Lee pushing in Delaluna and junior designated player
Dawson Dabboussi (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park), Trinity up 3-2 through one.
The scoring continued with three runs from the Ladies in the second on three straight hits, prompting Gutierrez's departure at the end of the inning. Dabboussi cut the new 5-3 Centenary lead in half in the bottom the second, driving in Del Toro for her second run of the contest already, 5-4 Ladies.
Porter came in to quiet the early chaos with a three-up, three-down third inning but a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the fourth saw her get the hook after two innings of work, 6-4 Centenary.
Williams went to work again the fifth, driving in Delaluna with a double after the shortstop collected an infield base hit. A sacrifice fly on new reliever first-year
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) reestablished a two-run margin, 7-5 Ladies.
Lee collected her third RBI, and fourth hit, in the seventh as she dropped in a one-out base hit in shallow right field just out of reach of Centenary's Mackenzie Cox, scoring Delaluna for her third time in the game. A double-play ball up the middle cut the rally short, 7-6.
Game Two: Trinity 6, Centenary 5
After another one-run first from Centenary, the Tigers pounced again with a four-run response in the bottom of the inning. First-year
Peyton Bowser (Arvada, Colo. / West)—the second game's third baseman—immediately made an impact with her first at-bat of the day, scoring Lee and Williams on a double down the rightfield line to push through a 4-1 Trinity lead.
Another single tally on game-two starter senior
Emery Boettcher (Fredericksburg, Texas / Fredericksburg) in the third gave way to sophomore
Lanie Smith (Foxfield, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) for her first relief appearance of the weekend.
Perhaps the most reliable theme from the day, Trinity responded in the bottom of the inning with a Lee RBI double, scoring Delaluna who led off the inning with a double of her own. Centenary finally broke through to even things up in the top of the fourth, capped by a two-RBI double from Kaylea Patridge though a strong throw in from Arce nabbed the leftfielder attempting for a triple, ending the inning.
The Tigers marked the winning run in the fifth after the first of three clean innings from Porter in the top of the frame. Another lead-off double from Delaluna opened up a stretch of three baserunners through the first four batters, setting the table for a wild pitch to bring Delaluna home.
Up Next
The SCAC series finale for Trinity Softball against Centenary is slated for a Noon start Sunday. The Tigers head out to Houston next weekend for a three-game set against University of St. Thomas before hosting a second six-game homestand April 14-22 with conference series against No. 4 Texas Lutheran University and University of Dallas.
