Abilene, Texas - The Centenary Ladies softball team will take part in the Hardin Simmons University/McMurry University Spring Break Tournament beginning Thursday and extending into the weekend, as the Ladies will play six non-conference games over three days.
The Ladies (7-4) are coming off a sweep over Austin College in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play last Saturday at home, which were Centenary's first two games of the season at the Centenary Softball Complex after playing on the road for the first nine games this season. The Ladies won game one by a score of 7-1 and then blanked the 'Roos, 3-0, in the second game.
Centenary begins play in the event on Thursday at Noon versus McMurry (4-3) at Edwards Field on the McMurry University campus. The Ladies will then face Concordia (6-6) in their second game at 3 p.m. On Friday, the Maroon and White have two scheduled games against McMurry at 11 a.m. and Howard Payne (7-3) at 2:30 p.m., both at Ellis Field on the Hardin Simmons campus. The Ladies wrap up the big weekend on Saturday with a doubleheader versus Hardin Simmons (2-7) set for Noon and 2 p.m.
Ladies' freshman pitcher Hailee Leger (Belle Chasse, La.) started game one of Centenary's DH versus Austin College and turned in another sensational performance in the circle. She pitched a complete game and allowed just one unearned run and three hits in her seven innings of work. She struck out a season-high 11 and did not walk a batter.
Leger, who was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 8, has still yet to walk a batter this season in 38.2 inning pitched. She improved to 3-2 on the season with a team-best 1.45 ERA. She has a team-leading two saves and has allowed just eight earned runs and 28 hits with 32 strikeouts. Leger is also the SCAC leader in ERA, wins, saves, strikeouts, innings pitched, opposing batting average, games started, and total appearances.
She is ranked 13th in the country in strikeouts and in an interesting stats anomaly, she is not currently ranked in the national strikeout to walk ratio category because she has not walked a batter yet. In fact, of the 257 total pitchers currently ranked in the category, Leger is the only pitcher yet to walk a batter. She is also tied for 65th in the nation in ERA.
Junior pitchers Ashley Hunter (Benton, La.) and Kirstyn Gomez (Deer Park, Texas) have also gotten off to strong starts this season, combining for four wins and 23 strikeouts. Hunter (3-1) has one complete game and a 3.05 ERA (fifth in SCAC) and Gomez is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA, which ranks seventh in the league.
Freshman right fielder Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) is hitting .280 on the season with a team-high seven hits and a team-best .419 on-base percentage. She is tied for third in the SCAC in walks (5) and is tied for fourth in stolen bases with four as she is 4-5 so far this season. Junior shortstop Jaymee Wilkinson (Brazoria, Texas) is tied for second in the SCAC in doubles (3) and also tied for second in sacrifice bunts.
Sophomore third baseman Britlyn Garrett (Stonewall, La.) and fellow sophomore Kaylea Patridge (Las Vegas, Nev.) are tied for the team lead in hits with Cox as each have seven. Patridge leads the team in RBI with four while Garrett has three and a team-high six runs scored. The speedy Garrett is second in the SCAC in stolen bases with seven as she is a perfect 7-7 so far this season. Patridge is third with six as she is 6-8 so far. The Ladies have been active on the basepaths so far, stealing 26 bases and only being caught six times as five Ladies have stolen at least three bases.
Senior Brittney Broussard (Rayne, La.) is tied for third in the SCAC in hit by pitches and has also collected six hits (second on team), scored six runs, four walks, three RBI, and a home run. Senior catcher Erin Lewis (Leesville, La.) also has six hits, has scored five runs, has drawn four walks, and has a homer and a double and two RBI.
Live stats and live video will be available for all six games this weekend at the links below:
Feb. 11 & 12 Video: https://mcmurrysports.com/sports/2019/8/28/video.aspx
Feb. 11 & 12 Stats: https://mcmurrysports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Feb. 13 Stats: https://www.hsuathletics.com/sports/w-softbl/2020-21/boxscores/20210313_xrv5.xml
Feb. 13 Video: https://hsuathletics.com/broadcasts
A link to the Ladies' complete season schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2020-21/schedule.
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