HOUSTON, Texas: The Trinity Tiger softball team lost game one of its final Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series against the University of St. Thomas Celts 4-3 on Friday night.

The Tigers (30-8, 23-5 SCAC) couldn't pull through to win this tight matchup against the Celts, despite collecting eight hits on the day, with Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, TX. / Shadow Creek) and Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, TX. / Flower Mound) each contributing two hits. Lee also hit two of the Tigers' three runs in. Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, TX. / Cy Woods) hit her second triple of the season, scoring one RBI. 

The Tigers' pitching staff, Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nevada / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) and Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) held the Celts to three earned runs despite them having six total hits. 

Game One - Trinity 3, St. Thomas 4
The Tigers struck first with a single by Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, TX. / Byron Nelson), a hot line drive off the third-baseman's glove. Whitacre picked up a stolen base to put herself in scoring position at second base. Lee came up with a single to right field, a hit that would score Whitacre and put the Tigers on the board in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, the Celts answered back to tie the game 1-1. 

Despite a sneaky bunt by Arce, the Tigers couldn't cash in any runs in the second inning, and the Celts scored one unearned run, putting them up 1-2.

In the top of the third, Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura) had a quality at bat ending in a single to left field. Boudreaux ran out a hard hit to second base, advancing Tagawa to third. Lee dropped down a squeeze bunt to score Tagawa and put the Tigers even at 2-2. 

In the top of the fifth, Boudreaux picked up her second hit of the day, a single to the left side. Despite her hit, the Tigers left her stranded. The Celts answered back again to come ahead 2-3. 

In the top of the sixth, Del Toro hit a clutch triple to the left-center field wall to score one run and put the Tigers back even in this close game, 3-3. Once again, St. Thomas came back with one more run to put them up 3-4. 

Ultimately, the Tigers could not string together any more runs and dropped the first game of this three-game series to the St. Thomas Celts.

Up Next: 
The Tigers will play two more games tomorrow, April 26, at 1:00pm and 3:00pm and have another shot at beating the St. Thomas Celts.