SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's softball team swept a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader from Austin College on Saturday night, winning 9-1 and 3-1 to clinch the weekend series.
The Tigers improved to 21-9 overall this season and has won five straight SCAC games to move to 9-2 in conference play. Austin dropped to 13-15 overall and 2-9 in SCAC. Trinity has now won 17 straight games in the series with Austin, dating back to the 2017 season.
The game one run-rule win was also the 100th career victory for Head Coach
Bailey Wittenauer. Coach Wittenauer is in her first season as the Tiger skipper, following two years as an assistant coach. She was the head softball coach at Division II Rockhurst University, compiling 80 wins in four seasons before joining the Tiger staff.
Austin College opened the day with a run in the top of the first against Trinity starter
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks). The Tiger offense made sure it didn't matter, though, pounding out four hits for a three-run bottom half of the inning to take the 3-1 lead.
Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) drove in the first run after
Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) singled and stole second.
Jordyn Williams (Clayton, Calif. / Clayton Valley Charter) singled as well to keep the inning going, then
Marina Delaluna (Concord, Calif. / Concord) smashed a two-run single up the middle to put Trinity in front for good.
Arce responded to her team getting her a lead by striking out two batters in the second, and retiring the side in order in the third. Meanwhile, the Tiger offense continued to score, adding two more runs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-1 lead.
Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura Hills) tripled in a run, then Watson brought in Tagawa on a fielder's choice.
The fourth inning featured two more strikeouts by Arce as she continued what would be a streak of 10 straight batters retired. After being blanked for the first time in the third, the Tigers came back with three more runs in the fourth. Tagawa drove in
Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods) with a single to right, then
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) scored on a line drive sac fly by Watson. Williams also had a sac fly in the inning to make it 8-1.
After allowing her first base runner since the second inning via walk, Arce got a quick ground ball out to end the fifth for Austin College. Trinity needed just one run to enact the run rule, and Delaluna got the inning started with another single.
Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) came on as a pinch-hitter and promptly stole second, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Del Toro doubled in the game-ending run with a rocket shot past third base.
Trinity got on the board first in the opener as Williams drove in Tagawa with a single down the right field line and a 1-0 lead. Austin tied the game in the top of the second with an unearned run, then both teams settled in for a pitcher's duel.
Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) didn't allow a runner past second base after the second inning to earn the win.
The Tigers took the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, sparked by a one-out double from Tagawa. She moved to third on a deep fly ball from Watson, then Boudreaux pushed a two-out single through the left side of the infield for a 2-1 lead. Koelewyn singled to start the sixth, while Whitacre came on as a pinch-runner once again. She stole second (again), moved to third on Delaluna's sac bunt, then scored an insurance run on a single by
Sydney Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek). That was more than enough for Koelewyn, who re-entered to retire the Kangaroos in order in the top of the seventh.
Koelewyn improved to 3-2 with the win, giving up one unearned run on four hits in the complete-game effort. Tagawa had two hits and two runs scored, while Williams and S. Boudreaux also had two hits each in the second game.
Arce upped her season record to 11-4 with the complete-game victory in game one, giving up one run on two hits, and striking out five batters. Tagawa also had two hits and two runs scored in the opener, while she and Watson both drove in two runs in game one. Delaluna also had two hits and two RBI, while Del Toro and Baltzell both added two hits as well.
Up Next
Trinity and Austin College will close out the weekend series with a single game on Sunday, beginning at 12:00 p.m.
