SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University softball team swept a Friday night doubleheader against Hanover College (IN), winning 10-2 in the opener and 7-2 in the finale.
The Tigers improved to 7-1 this season with the two wins and the Panthers wrap up their season-opening trip to Texas with a 2-6 record. Trinity pitchers
Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) and
Cameron Bishop (Austin, Texas / Austin) combined to throw a no-hitter in the first game, while the offense jump-started the evening with seven runs in the first inning. Trinity opened the second game with four more first-inning runs to take the early lead and then cruised to the sweep.
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) had an outstanding night at the plate in the two games, going 4-for-4 with four runs scored, four RBI, and two walks to reach base six times.
Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) made the most of her only hit of the game, going 1-for-2 with a two-run homer in the first inning. She then drew three walks in game two, going 1-for-1 with another run scored.
Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored in game one, and
Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods) scored twice.
Hannah Flores (San Antonio, Texas / Taft) was 2-for-4 with three RBI in game two, while
Samantha Melendez (Pasco, Washington / Chiawana) crushed a two-run double in the second game.
Koelewyn threw four perfect innings to start the first game, improving to 5-0 this season.
Megan Kriechbaum (Cedar Hills, Utah / Pleasant Grove) picked up her second win of the young season and is now 2-1. She pitched four shutout innings to start game two, striking out six batters and giving up just two hits.
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) struck out three more Hanover hitters in her two innings in the circle, giving up just one run on two hits.
The Rundown
Whitacre started the game with a bunt single down the third-base line and when the throw to first sailed into right field, she was off to the races. The three-base error made it 1-0 after just one pitch. Tagawa followed with a sharp single to right-center, then Boudreaux blasted her home run over the fence in left field to make it a 3-0 lead just six pitches into the game. The Panthers got the first out of the game after that but then walked the next three batters to tie the game. It looked like they might escape any more damage when the Tigers popped up for the second out, but Baltzell crushed a bases-clearing double to extend the inning. Whitacre drove in Baltzell two pitches later to make it 7-0 Trinity.
With Koelewyn breezing through the game from the circle, the Tigers were able to keep the offense rolling. Del Toro led off the third inning with a single, then scored on another RBI from Baltzell to up the tally to 8-0.
Quincy Basarowich (Calgary, Alberta (Canada) / Memorial) had a pinch-hit single to lead off the fourth inning, which led to another run when
Kristy Mendoza (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Vista) delivered a two-out single to push the lead to 9-0 heading into the fifth. Hanover got its first base runner of the game with a leadoff walk in the fifth, then took advantage of two more walks to load the bases with just one out. The Panthers broke up the shutout with a fielder's choice to make it 9-1, then scored on an error to get the second run of the inning without getting a hit. Trinity loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) ended the game with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield to make it a 10-2 final.
Game two started with another big inning and Whitacre got the wheels turning after getting hit by a pitch, then promptly stealing both second and third.
Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura) also walked and then stole second, followed by the first of three walks in the game for Boudreaux to load the bases. After Hanover got the first out of the inning, Flores tripled to right-center field and then came home on a throwing error to make it a 4-0 lead in the first.
Kriechbaum struck out two batters in the first and then added two more in the second to put her red-hot offense back up to bat. Lee drove in a run in the second to make it a 5-0 game, but the Tigers left the bases loaded in what could have been another big inning. The bats went quiet for the next two innings and then Hanover led off the fifth with a double. The Panthers eventually scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 5-1, but Trinity came back to life in the bottom of the inning. Melendez extended the lead to 7-1 with her two-RBI double with two outs. Hanover made one last comeback bid in the seventh, surrounding two walks with a single that loaded the bases with just one out. Another walk made it a 7-2 game, but the Tigers escaped without any more damage and finished off the sweep.
Up Next
Trinity will host Willamette University (OR) in a Sunday doubleheader that begins at 11:00 a.m.
