HOUSTON – The Tiger softball team was swept in Saturday's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at the University of St. Thomas, falling 9-8 in the opener and 7-5 in game two.

Trinity fell to 7-23 overall and 4-7 in SCAC this season, while St. Thomas upped its record to 22-6 overall and 10-1 in league play. Friday night's series opener was postponed to an unknown date and may not be made up this season.

The Tigers rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh of game one, but stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on base and were unable to complete the comeback. The second game saw a flurry of runs in the first two innings and the two teams were tied 5-5 early on. St. Thomas put together a two-run sixth inning to edge Trinity in the finale.

Dawson Dabboussi (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park) was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in the first game, and Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. The duo hit back-to-back third-inning home runs. Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Valley Charter) also had three hits and drove in a pair of runners for the Tigers. In game two, Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) hit a first-inning grand slam that turned out to be her only hit of the game.

Delaluna's home run ties her for the career record at Trinity, matching the 15 home runs hit by Caitlynn Dykes (2012-15).  

Emery Boettcher (Fredericksburg, Texas / Fredericksburg) suffered the loss in the opening game, while Lanie Smith (Foxfield, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) got the unfavorable decision from the circle in game two. Smith came on in relief and allowed just two runs on five hits over five innings.

Trinity will return home this weekend to face off against Texas Lutheran University, which is ranked fourth in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

The Rundown, Game 1
Trinity struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning as Dabboussi and Williams both drove in runs to make it 2-0. Jessie Lloyd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills) opened the game with a single to left on the second pitch of the afternoon, then moved to second on a sac bunt by Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods). After the run-scoring double by Dabboussi, Delaluna lined out to first ahead of the RBI single from Williams.

St. Thomas struck for four runs in the bottom of the second to take its first lead of the game, stringing together four hits and taking advantage of a Tiger error to make it a 4-2 game. Dabboussi and Delaluna answered with their two long balls in the top of the third to tie the game at 4-4.

Trinity wasn't done scoring, though, adding another run in the top of the fourth to pull back in front 5-4. Alexa Saucedo (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen) knocked a one-out double to set Lloyd up for an RBI single to put the Tigers back in the lead. Unfortunately for Tiger fans, St. Thomas stayed hot too, adding four more runs on four more hits in the bottom of the inning to lead 8-5.

The fifth saw Williams reach with a one-out hit for Trinity, but a double play kept the score the same heading into the bottom of the inning. St. Thomas then finished its scoring with a run via a solo homer of its own to lead 9-5.

Neither team scored in the sixth to set up the attempted rally by the Tigers in the seventh. Del Toro opened the inning with a double to center, followed by a single by Dabboussi to put two runners on. Delaluna then drove in both runners to make it 9-7, followed by another RBI single from Williams to cut the lead to 9-8. After Lee lined out to short for the first out of the inning, Peyton Bowser (Arvada, Colo. / West) singled to move pinch-runner Madison Horn (Schertz, Texas / Clemens) to third and runners were on the corners. St. Thomas escaped by getting a fly ball to shallow left and a ground out to take the win.

The Rundown, Game 2
A strong first inning once again put Trinity in front after a half-inning, though the Tigers added four runs in the second game to lead 4-0. Lloyd opened with another single that was followed by two quick outs. Delaluna put runners at second and third with her double, then Williams walked to load the bases. Lee delivered the grand slam on a 3-0 pitch to account for the four-run inning.

St. Thomas was up to the challenge, matching Trinity's first-inning scoring and then adding another to take a 5-4 lead. The Celts scored five runs on five hits in the inning to bring Smith in front the bullpen for the Tigers. The lead didn't last long as Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) opened the second for Trinity by getting hit by a pitch. After stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error, Lloyd tied the game up with a sacrifice fly to right.

Both pitchers settled in after that as neither offense had much going in the middle innings. Only once was there a runner that reached third from the to of the third until the bottom of the sixth. St. Thomas broke away with two runs in the sixth, stringing together three hits and a hit batter to lead 7-5. Trinity went 1-1-2-3 in the seventh and the Celts got the sweep.

Up Next
Trinity will host No. 4 Texas Lutheran University in a three-game SCAC weekend series that begins Friday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m.