San Antonio– The No. 4 seed Centenary softball team will face the No. 5 seed and tournament host Trinity University Tigers on Friday in the opening game of the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship at 11 a.m. at the Trinity University Softball Field.
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The Ladies (17-22, 12-9 SCAC) are making their seventh-consecutive appearance in the event this weekend and are facing Trinity (13-26, 10-10 SCAC) for the second season in a row to open the tournament. Trinity won two of three games over the Ladies at home during the regular season as all three contests were decided by a single run. Centenary has won 10 of 13 games overall entering Friday's action.
Texas Lutheran University is the top seed at this weekend's SCAC Tournament, followed closely by the University of St. Thomas as the No. 2 seed. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 19-2 conference record, while the Celts were 17-3 in SCAC play. Southwestern University (13-8 in SCAC) will be third, followed by Centenary College (12-9), Trinity (10-10), and Schreiner (9-12). Both Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas earned byes and will play the final two games on Friday.
This season, Trinity was swept in three games against both Texas Lutheran and Southwestern. The Tigers also lost twice against St. Thomas and had the third game in the series rained out. Trinity lost the opening game of the series against both Centenary and Schreiner, but bounced back with two straight wins in each series to take two-out-of-three for both weekends.
Texas Lutheran has won eight consecutive SCAC Softball Championships since joining the league in 2013-14. The Bulldogs have won 24 of 25 SCAC Tournament games, with Trinity handing them their only loss in the 2016 Championships – also held at Trinity. Southwestern is the last team other than Texas Lutheran to win the SCAC title, and the Pirates were coached that season by Angela Froboese – now the current Head Coach at St. Thomas. She guided her former team to SCAC Championships in 2010 and 2013. Trinity is the only other team in this year's tournament to have won the SCAC Championship. The Tigers won the first four conference titles from 1999-2002, then won three more consecutive championships from 2005-07.
As the only team in this year's tournament to have been a part of each season since softball was adopted as a sport by the SCAC in 1999, Trinity has piled up the most wins with 48 victories. Southwestern has 28 tournament victories since 2009, while Texas Lutheran is next with 24 wins since 2014. Centenary has an even 13-13 tournament record since joining the league, while Schreiner has won eight games in the event. Last year, St. Thomas went 2-2 in its first tournament since starting up the program.
The Ladies took two of three games at home this past weekend over the Southwestern University Pirates to complete their regular season. Centenary took game one 7-0 and fell 3-0 in game two on Senior Day but won the series following an 11-0 run-rule shutout win in five innings on Friday night in the series opener. Centenary tied the division III era (2012-present) single-season record for conference wins by virtue of its game one win on Sunday.
Centenary enters the weekend with the third-highest team batting average (.315) in the conference with a .377 on-base percentage and a .419 slugging %. The Ladies have recorded 16 games this season with 10+ hits and scored in double figures an impressive five times. The Ladies' pitching staff has thrown 17 complete games and five shutouts with a team ERA of 3.81.
The Ladies have 78 extra-base hits, have hit 11 home runs, and stolen 61 bases. Six starters are hitting .300 or better led by senior LF/SS Kaylea Patridge (Las Vegas, Nev.) who is hitting .431 (.474 OBP/.593 slugging). Patridge is the conference leader in hits (53) and ranks 57th nationally in all of division III in the category. She has a team-high 11 doubles and is also the team leader in RBI (26). Patridge has 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts and in 123 at-bats, she has only struck out eight times while drawing seven walks. She has three triples, a home run, and has scored 23 runs.
She has 18 multi-hit games this season including a five-hit game, a four-hit game, and three 3-hit performances. She had a 14-game hitting streak this season and has collected two or more hits in 10 of her last 12 games.
Junior OF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) had another impressive regular season as she is hitting .348 (.398 OBP %/.487 slugging %) with 40 hits and 33 runs scored. In 115 at-bats, Cox has only struck out 12 times and walked nine times with four doubles, six triples, and 15 RBI. She is third in the conference and tied for 29th nationally in stolen bases (26) and has only been caught twice all season. Her six triples lead the SCAC and she ranks in the top 20 nationally. Cox has 11 multi-hit games this season and had an impressive weekend at the plate in the Ladies' series win at home over Southwestern last weekend. Cox hit .417 (5-12) with three RBI, four runs scored, and two triples. She was 3-4 with two RBI, a triple, and three runs scored in the Ladies' 11-0 run-rule win over the Pirates on Friday and had another triple and two-hit performance in game one of Sunday's DH, a 7-0 win.
Freshman 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) has turned in a fantastic rookie season as she is hitting .321 (.363 OBP %/.397 slugging %) with 42 hits, 23 RBI, and 20 runs scored. In a team-high 131 at-bats she has only struck out four times compared to 10 walks. She has eight doubles, a triple, and three stolen bases in three attempts. Stokes has 11 multi-hit performances and has played exceptional defense as she has yet to make an error in 197 total chances for a perfect 1,000 fielding %.
Sophomore 3B Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.) followed up her impressive 2022 rookie season with another solid campaign. She is hitting .325 (.386 OBP/.491 slugging %) with a team-high four home runs and has 37 hits, 25 RBI, and 26 runs scored. Rivero also has five doubles, a triple, 13 BB, and one stolen base.
Freshman C/3B Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) has also been impressive in her rookie season. She is second on the team in home runs (3) and tied with Patridge for the team lead in doubles (11). She has 26 hits, 23 RBI, 14 runs scored, four walks, and four stolen bases. She has also played great defense, throwing out nine runners attempting to steal, tied for the most in the conference.
Senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) is hitting .266 (.379 OBP/.284 slugging) with 29 hits, 26 runs scored, 10 RBI and a conference-leading 18 walks. She has stolen five bases and has two doubles. Stout has played great defense as well with only one error all season and a .980 fielding % and has thrown multiple runners out at home. Junior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) is hitting a healthy .373 (.416 OBP/.506 slugging) with two homers, 11 RBI, 31 hits, 14 runs scored, and five walks.
Sophomore SS Brooke Sandefur (Denham Springs, La.) has 18 hits, scored 16 runs, nine RBI, five stolen bases, and three doubles. Sophomore DP/1B Kaitlyn Dickey (Church Point, La.) is batting .288 (.325 OBP/.315 slugging) with 21 hits, 11 RBI, four runs scored, and two doubles.
Sophomore 3B Alyssa Akers (Maurice, La.) has 14 hits and 13 RBI with five runs, three walks, one home run, and a pair of doubles. Junior SS Mackenzie Clark (Upland, Calif.) returned to action recently following an injury and is hitting .333 this season in six games and 12 at-bats. She has four hits, scored three runs, an RBI, three BB, and two stolen bases. Freshman OF Sophie Vidrine (Eunice, La.) is hitting .310 this season with 13 hits, seven runs, three RBI, a double, three BB, and three stolen bases in three attempts.
Freshman P/UT Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) has been impressive on both the mound and at the plate as one of the Ladies' most versatile players all season. She is the team leader in ERA (3.11) and in 14 appearances and 13 starts, she has one save and one complete game. She is also hitting .313 with a .389 OBP and is slugging .375. She has 10 hits in 32 at-bats with five RBI, two doubles, three runs scored, and two walks.
Sophomore P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) has led the Ladies' pitching staff all season as she ranks second on the team in ERA (3.61) and in the top 10 in the SCAC. She is the conference leader in innings pitched (110.2) and ranks in the top 10 in both wins (8) and strikeouts (47). She is 8-9 with a team-high 10 complete games and only walked 18 batters all season in 21 appearances (19 starts).
Freshman P Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) has been impressive as a rookie as she is 5-4 with a 4.18 ERA and has thrown five complete games. She was the winner in the Ladies' 7-0 victory over Southwestern last weekend as she tossed her first-career complete game shutout. She threw a season-high 136 pitches (82 strikes) in her 14th appearance and 13th start as she has logged 68.2 IP this season with 29 K's. Freshman Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) has made 15 appearances and three starts and is 3-2 with one complete game. She sports a 4.69 ERA in 34.1 IP.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests and Live stats and live video stream are available for all home contests as well. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.
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