SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader from Howard Payne University (TX) on Friday afternoon, winning 8-0 and 10-2.
The Tigers (10-2) held the Yellow Jackets (2-10) to just two hits in each game, while the offense exploded for 25 total hits – including 17 in the second game alone. Trinity scored 14 runs before Howard Payne finally got on the board, breaking up a streak of eight straight scoreless innings by Tiger pitchers.
Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nev. / Academy of Arts Careers and Technology) and
Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousand Oaks) combined for a two-hit shutout in game one, striking out a pair of batters as Koelewyn improved to 7-0 on the season. Arce started game two and earned her first win of the season, giving up two hits in three shutout innings, and striking out four batters.
Hayden Del Toro (Cypress, Texas / Cy Woods) and
Angela Baltzell (Antioch, Calif. / Freedom) had two hits each in the opener, with Baltzell collecting three RBI.
Kristy Mendoza (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Vista) scored two runs and
Ella Whitacre (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) drove in two and scored another. Whitacre came back with three hits and scored two more runs in the second game, while
Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) also had three hits to go with two RBI and one run.
Hannah Flores (San Antonio, Texas / Taft) went 3-for-4 to tie for the team lead in the game, pacing the Tigers with five RBI.
Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI in the second game and was 3-for-6 with three runs and two RBI on the day.
Mariana Garcia (Goodyear, Ariz. / Canyon View) also had three hits in the two games, including two in the finale.
The Rundown
Koelewyn gave up a hit to the first batter of the game and then retired 10 straight hitters. The only runner she allowed came on an error and the Tiger pitcher induced a double play on the next hitter to erase that runner. The Trinity offense also staked Koelewyn to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, beginning with a walk and a steal from Whitacre and an RBI triple from Boudreaux. She then scored on a wild pitch to account for Trinity's second run. Trinity added two more in the bottom of the second after loading the bases with no outs. Baltzell drove in the first run of the inning with an infield single, then Whitacre slashed a sac fly into left field to make it 4-0.
The bases were loaded with one out in the third, which turned out to be a three-run inning for Trinity. Del Toro drove in a run to start the scoring, then Baltzell drew a bases-loaded walk and Whitacre reached on a fielder's choice to make it a 7-0 game heading into the fourth. The Tigers got the leadoff hitter on base in the fourth but a double play took the air out of the inning. Howard Payne got its first hit since the first inning with one out in the fifth, but Arce got a shallow flyout to right and a strikeout to end any chance of breaking up the shutout. Flores walked to start the bottom of the fifth, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and a ground out. Baltzell then enacted the run rule with an infield single to end the game.
Arce opened the second game with three quick outs to pick up where she left off at the end of game one. Whitacre then did her usual with a bunt single and a stolen base to get into scoring position. Two batters later, she came in to score the first run of the game on Lee's RBI single, but that was all the Tigers managed to start the scoring. Howard Payne got its first hit of the game in the second inning, but Arce struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Trinity didn't score again until the third when they strung together six hits, beginning with a leadoff double from Boudreaux. Lee drove in her second run of the game with a single to follow. After Garcia singled to put two runners on, Flores drove in both with an infield single. Mendoza drove in another run with a sac fly two batters later to make it 5-0.
Howard Payne got its first runs of the day in the top of the fourth, cutting into the Tiger lead by walks, wild pitches, and an error. Boudreaux drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning and Trinity was able to get one of those runs back. Garcia singled after a groundout to put two runners on and then Flores drove Boudreaux in with an infield single. The Yellow Jackets escaped any further damage and kept it a 6-2 game.
Heather Nugent (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Marina) pitched around a one-out walk in the top of the fifth and the Tiger offense was back at it with a chance to get another run-rule win. Trinity was able to do just that with a four-run inning that started with back-to-back singles and stolen bases for Baltzell and Whitacre. Boudreaux followed with a two-run double – her second extra-base hit of the day – that pushed it to an 8-2 game with just one out. Lee followed with a hit of her own to put runners at the corners, then another steal – this time by pinch-runner
Meagan Brooks (Graham, Texas / Graham) – put the potential game-ending run in scoring position. After a fly out to right brought HPU within one out of extending the game, Flores dumped a hit into shallow right and both runners came in to score and finish off the victory.
Up Next
Trinity returns to action in a week, taking on Washington University-St. Louis (MO) in a doubleheader on Friday, March 13, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Wash U Is currently ranked 18th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III poll.
