SAN ANTONIO – The Tiger softball team swept a doubleheader from La Roche University (PA) in its final non-conference games of the regular season on Friday, winning both games by a final score of 9-1.
Trinity improved to 15-7 this season, ending both games in a run-rule after five innings, and matching its win total from last year. La Roche just got its 2024 season started less than a week ago and falls to 1-7 on its Texas road trip.
Megan Kriechbaum (Cedar Hills, Utah / Pleasant Grove) got the complete-game victory in the finale, improving to 1-0 this season. She allowed just one run on two hits, striking out three batters over five innings.
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) and
Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) both pitched in the opener and allowed one unearned run on just two hits. Arce (8-3) picked up the win, striking out five batters in three shutout innings to start the game.
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) drove in three runs in game two and went 1-for-2 with a triple and a run scored.
Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Clayton Valley Charter),
Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian), and
Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) all went 2-for-3 and scored at least once. Watson had two runs scored, while she and Williams both also had RBI in the game. Watson started the day by going 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI to lead Trinity's offense.
Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura Hills) had two hits and scored three runs in game one, while
Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
The Rundown, Game 1
Arce struck out two of the first three batters she faced to get the game started on the right foot for the Tigers, then the offense blew up for four runs in the bottom of the inning to give her a comfortable lead. Tagawa singled to start the Trinity first, then stole second to move into scoring position. Watson rolled the second pitch she saw up the middle for a base hit, driving in Tagawa for the first run of the game. Boudreaux followed with a double to right field to score another run, then Arce also went opposite-field with an RBI double of her own to make it 3-0.
Peyton Bowser (Arvada, Colo. / West) drove in the final run of the inning with a single up the middle to score Arce.
The offense was back at it in the second inning as Watson followed a leadoff walk for Tagawa with an RBI double to make it 5-0. Arce got hit by a pitch and Williams walked with one out, but the Tigers left the bases loaded and missed a chance at another big inning.
Arce struck out the side in what turned out to be her final inning of work, while Trinity scored four times in the bottom of the third to take a 9-0 lead.
Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods) walked and stole second to lead off the inning, then scored on an error. Tagawa drove in a run with an infield single after that, then stole second to move into scoring position. Watson singled to put two runners on, then Boudreaux smashed her second double of the game to drive in another run. Williams had a sac fly to center two batters later to finish the scoring.
Koelewyn came on in relief of Arce to start the fourth, and La Roche greeted her with a leadoff single and a stolen base. Koelewyn pitched around the hit, but a Tiger error allowed a run to score to break up the shutout. Trinity's offense was stopped for the first time in the game in the bottom of the inning, failing to score after a leadoff hit by Whitacre. Koelewyn got a 1-2-3 fifth to close out the game and the win for the Tigers.
The Rundown, Game 2
Kriechbaum retired the first six batters she faced and didn't allow a hit until the third inning, while the Tigers got a run in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. Williams drove in Watson with a two-out single, after Watson doubled to get the inning started.
La Roche got its first hit of the game to start the third inning, then drew a walk to put two runners on base with no outs. After a sac bunt moved both runners up, the Red Hawks scored on a fielder's choice to tie the game 1-1. An error loaded the bases with still just one out, but Kriechbaum got a strikeout and a groundout to strand the bases loaded and keep the game tied.
Tagawa and Watson led off the bottom of the third with bunt singles, then a throwing error brought Tagawa in for the go-ahead run. Boudreaux lined out to center for a sac fly to make it 3-1, then Bowser drove in another run with a single to right.
Diamond Elizondo (San Antonio, Texas / Stevens) kept the inning going with a walk to load the bases and Baltzell followed that with a walk to drive in the final run of the inning to make it a 5-1 lead.
Kriechbaum allowed just one hit over the next two innings, striking out two batters in the fifth to keep the lead at four runs.
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) doubled down the line past third base to start the fifth inning, then Del Toro came in as a pinch-runner to score on Elizondo's RBI single up the middle. Baltzell tripled to right field to drive in two more runs to make it 8-1 with just one out. Watson got a sac fly to shallow center to drive in Baltzell, which put the run-rule into effect and ended the game.
Up Next
Trinity will begin Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend, hosting defending conference champion University of St. Thomas for a three-game series. The Tigers and Celts begin the series with a single game at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 22.
