ABILENE, Texas – The Trinity University softball team opened a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series on the road with a 12-8 win over McMurry University (TX) on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers (13-4, 7-2 SCAC) scored in all but one inning during the game with a four-run third and a three-run fourth doing most of the damage on the afternoon. McMurry (4-6, 3-6 SCAC) kept the game close early but committed four errors and only had seven hits and was unable to keep pace with Trinity's 13-hit day during which hitters also drew seven walks. The Tigers split a doubleheader against the War Hawks last season, following an 11-8 loss with a 5-4 victory.
Megan Kriechbaum (Cedar Hills, Utah / Pleasant Grove) got the win in relief to improve to 3-1 this season, blanking McMurry over the final two innings of the game and allowing just one hit to go with a pair of strikeouts.
Mariana Garcia (Goodyear, Ariz. / Canyon View) led Trinity's offensive attack with a 3-for-5 performance that included a home run and a double, as well as three runs scored and three RBI.
Peyton Bowser (Arvada, Colo. / West) also had three hits, scoring twice and driving in another run.
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) finished with three RBI to match Garcia's total, while
Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) and
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) both scored two runs.
The Rundown
Trinity opened the game with a run in the top of the first to take the early lead, as
Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third as the next two batters were retired. Lee drove in her teammate to give Trinity a 1-0 lead with a clutch two-out hit. The first of McMurry's errors put Koelewyn on base in the second and the Tigers were up 2-0 after two more errors brought Koelewyn home.
McMurry tied the game after recording a pair of two-out hits to bring in two runs, but the Tigers didn't wait long to reclaim the advantage. The third turned out to be a five-hit inning for the visitors and Trinity took a 6-2 lead by inning's end. Trinity had three straight hits to start the inning, but a play at the plate looked to stop the momentum. After a walk and a strikeout,
Sydney Watson (San Antonio, Texas / San Antonio Christian) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the first run. Baltzell then drove in the next two runs with a two-out single and after Tagawa walked to reload the bases, Whitacre joined the hit party with her own RBI single.
The bottom of the inning featured three more runs by the War Hawks, who were at that point keeping pace with Trinity's scoring spree. McMurry brought in a reliever to slow down Trinity's bats in the fourth, but Garcia followed Lee's leadoff walk with a two-run homer for a three-run cushion. Baltzell later doubled in another run and the lead was 9-5. McMurry got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth, then held Trinity scoreless for the first time in the game in the fifth inning. The War Hawks offense was also held in check, though, and the score remained 9-6 heading into the final two innings.
Trinity scored its 10th run of the game by way of another McMurry error, but the War Hawks came back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to bring it to a manageable 10-8 game heading into the seventh. Garcia doubled in a run with one out in the seventh, though, and Bowser followed two batters later with a two-out single to give Trinity a more comfortable four-run lead with just three outs left. Kriechbaum got two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh, then after a walk, finished the win with a pop up to second base.
Up Next
Today's original doubleheader was changed to a single game today, due to weather conditions in the area. The teams conclude the series with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, beginning at 12:00 p.m.
