SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University softball team swept a Tuesday night doubleheader with a pair of shutouts, winning 2-0 and 4-0 against Howard Payne University.
The Tigers improved to 3-1 this season with the wins, which featured a pair of complete-game shutouts for starting pitchers
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) and
Cameron Bishop (Austin, Texas / Austin). The duo combined for 18 strikeouts on the day, allowing just eight hits over 14 innings.
Arce opened the doubleheader with a three-hit shutout to improve to 2-0 this season, striking out seven batters against just three walks. Bishop made the most of her first collegiate start, tossing a five-hit shutout that featured no walks and 11 strikeouts – the most by a Tiger pitcher since 2021.
Trinity was limited to just three hits in game one as Arce was locked in a scoreless pitcher's duel for the first five-plus innings.
Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on a wild pitch to break up the shutout.
Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura) drove in an insurance run later in the inning with a line drive sacrifice fly to right. Arce finished off the win with a three-up, three-down inning in the seventh.
After Bishop fanned two of the first three batters to start game two, the Tiger offense scored a run in the bottom of the inning to give its young pitcher an early lead. Watson reached on an error, then promptly stole both second and third, and scored on another sac fly from Tagawa. Bishop came back with two more punchouts in the second and the Trinity bats stayed hot in the bottom half.
Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) had one of the most exciting singles out there as she reached on a close play at first base. The throw from just in front of home plate sailed past first and deep into the outfield, allowing the speedy Whitacre to come all the way around to score and make it 2-0 Tigers.
Bishop's short no-hit bid was stopped in the third as Howard Payne picked up a pair of singles, but the first-year added two more strikeouts to her total to keep the Yellow Jackets off the board. She had three more strikeouts over the next two innings and the offense gave her a little more breathing room in the fifth.
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) followed a leadoff single with a stolen base to get the inning off to a quick start. After Baltzell moved to third on a fly out to right, Trinity loaded the bases with just one out.
Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) made it a 3-0 Tiger lead on her sharp ground ball to first, and Howard Payne managed to escape without any further damage.
Howard Payne led off the sixth with two singles for its best scoring chance of the game against Bishop. The Yellow Jackets executed a sac bunt to move the runners up, but Bishop fanned the next batter for the second out.
Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Clayton Valley Charter) then snagged a line drive at first base to end the threat. Williams then led off the bottom of the sixth with a single through the left side, which led to another Trinity run that made it 4-0.
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) drove in the run that made it a 4-0 lead with her sac fly to left. That was more than enough offense for Bishop, who pitched around a leadoff single in the seventh to shut the door on game two.
"Our pitching really shined today," said Head Coach
Bailey Wittenauer. "They really gave our offense time to progress through the games and play team softball. We are excited for our next test this weekend against ETBU!"
Trinity will be back at home this weekend to face off against 16th-ranked East Texas Baptist University. The doubleheader begins at Noon on Saturday, February 17.
