COLUMBUS, GEORGIA - Trinity Softball drops two and falls to Berry in SAA Championship.

Game One - Trinity 1, Berry 3

Trinity struck first in the opening inning, but Berry answered with three runs over the middle innings to hand the Tigers a 3-1 loss in an elimination game at the SAA Championships  on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Georgia.  

The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first. Hannah Boudreaux (Pearland, Texas / Shadow Creek) was hit by a pitch to lead off the game and moved into scoring position on a Angela Baltzell (Antioch, California / Freedom) sacrifice bunt. After Carsyn Lee (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) was retired, Samantha Tagawa (Agoura Hills, California / Agoura) delivered a two-out single to center field that brought Boudreaux home and gave Trinity a 1-0 lead.

Berry responded with two of their own in the bottom of the first, and then again in the fifth to make it 3-1. Tagawa reached in the top of the seventh to try to start a rally but the Berry pitching staff got out the next three batters to take game one. 

Tagawa led the Trinity offense by reaching base three times, going 1-for-1 with two walks and the Tigers' lone RBI. Boudreaux scored Trinity's only run. 

In the circle, Megan Kriechbaum (Cedar Hills, Utah / Pleasant Grove) struck out two over 4.1 innings, and Josephine Koelewyn was outstanding in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings and retiring all five batters she faced.

Game Two - Trinity 0, Berry 2  

Josephine Koelewyn (Reno, Nevada / Academy for Arts Careers and Technology) was sharp in the circle for Trinity, holding Berry scoreless through the first three innings while working around several baserunners. The Vikings finally broke through in the fourth, using a one-out double and Trinity miscues to take a 1-0 lead.

Berry added an insurance run in the fifth to extend the lead to 2-0

Trinity threatened in the bottom of the fifth. Hannah Flores (San Antonio, Texas / Taft) delivered a pinch-hit single to left field and Jordan Arce (Thousand Oaks, California / Thousand Oaks) entered as a pinch runner, putting a runner aboard with no outs. Berry, however, recorded three consecutive outs to preserve the two-run advantage.

The Tigers mounted one final push in the seventh. Koelewyn hit a leadoff double to start the inning but the next three batters were retired and Berry took the win. 

Koelewyn turned in another strong postseason performance, allowing one earned run over 4.0 innings. Megan Kriechbaum pitched the final three innings and struck out two.

Up Next

The Tigers will await their fate for an at-large bit to the NCAA Playoffs with the selection show airing tomorrow at 10:00 AM ET on NCAA.com.