GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Tiger softball team rallied from a huge deficit to pull out a 14-13 extra-inning win over George Fox University on Saturday afternoon.

Trinity improved to 7-4 this season with the win, handing George Fox (4-1) its first loss of the young season. This was just the third meeting between the two schools and the Tigers picked up their first win in the series today.

Down eight runs after just two innings, Trinity scored in each of the final six innings of the game to complete its rally. The Tigers scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 11-11 and even had a chance to win it with two runners on base. George Fox escaped and then the Bruins brought in two runs in the top of the eighth to put the pressure on Trinity once again. The Tigers delivered with their third consecutive three-run inning, and Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) delivered an RBI single to end the game with Trinity on top.

Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura) and Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods) drove in three runs each in the game, while Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) led the team with three runs scored, while Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) and Tagawa also scored twice. Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Clayton Valley Charter) finished with two RBI, while Peyton Bowser (Arvada, Colo. / West) went 2-for-3, and both players also drew two walks in the game.

Jordan Arce (Thousand Oakes, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) picked up the win to move to 5-1 in the circle this year, pitching the final two innings of the game. The Tiger sophomore gave up three runs on three hits, though just one of the runs was earned. She also recorded three strikeouts in the relief win. Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) ate up most of the innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits over 4.0 innings of work.

The Rundown

George Fox was all over Trinity early, scoring on just the third pitch of the game. The Bruins tripled and then came home on an error to make it 1-0 almost immediately. Trinity was able to limit the damage to just two runs in the opening frame as George Fox left the bases loaded.

The second inning was more of the same as GFU loaded the bases with one out and forced the Tigers to the bullpen for the second time in the game. The Bruins got a hit and a sac fly to score the first two, then loaded the bases again ahead of a grand slam that made it an 8-0 rout after just two innings.

Meanwhile, Trinity's offense didn't have a base runner in the first two innings. After Koelewyn came in to pitch in the third and slowed down the Bruins hitters, the Tigers also got on base for the first time with a leadoff walk by Watson. Three straight hits after that led to Trinity's first run as Tagawa drove in Watson to make it 8-1. The bad news was that Trinity only got the one run and the next three batters got out to strand the bases loaded themselves.

Koelewyn continued to settle in and put up another zero in the fourth, then Trinity's bats got going again in the bottom of the inning. Williams walked to start the rally, then an error extended the inning and led to three unearned runs. Baltzell drove in the first of those runs with a single, then Del Toro drove in two more with a hit of her own with two outs. That made it an interesting 8-4 game after four innings.

The big inning by Trinity caught the attention of the Bruins hitters and they came to life with two runs on two hits to take a 10-4 lead. The Tigers stranded two more in the bottom of the inning, though Bowser did knock in another run to cut into the lead.

George Fox put two runners on with two outs in the sixth, but the Tigers escaped with another scoreless inning to set up the offense. The Bruins brought in a reliever to start the bottom of the inning and three straight walks later, the visitors made another call to the bullpen. Arce drew a bases-loaded walk for the first run of the frame, then Williams smashed a two-run single to make it a 10-8 game.

Arce came in to pitch the seventh and was greeted rudely by the Bruins bats. George Fox had two hits and a walk to bring in an insurance run to make it 11-8, but Arce buckled down and struck out two of the next three hitters to send it to the bottom of the seventh. Bowser and Baltzell walked to start the seventh and just like that, the tying run was on base. As she has done so much already in just her first season at Trinity, Tagawa came through with a clutch hit – a two-run triple to make it an 11-10 game. Del Toro then lifted a sac fly to center to bring in Tagawa with the tying run. Trinity wasn't done, though, and nearly ended the game then and there as Boudreaux kept the rally going with a double to right. Arce walked to put two runners on with one out, but George Fox slipped out of the jam and sent the game to extra innings.

Despite the international tiebreaker putting a runner at second, Arce got the first two outs of the inning with the inherited runner still in the same spot. An error put runners at the corners and kept the inning going, then George Fox doubled home two runs to put Trinity behind once again. Delaluna started the bottom of the eighth on second and was home immediately as Watson laced a run-scoring double into the outfield to make it 13-12. After a walk, Baltzell tied the game with her second RBI of the day. The next two batters got out and it looked like the game might continue even longer. Instead, Boudreaux sliced a single into right field and Bowser came in with the winning run.

Coach Speak

"We have proven once again that his team is never out of any game," said Head Coach Bailey Wittenauer. "We did a great job of settling at the plate and taking advantage of scoring our base runners when it mattered."

Up Next

Trinity will be back at home tomorrow morning, hosting Lewis & Clark College (OR) in a doubleheader that begins at 9:00 a.m.