Shreveport – The Centenary softball team earned a 2-1 walk-off victory in extra innings on Sunday afternoon over the Millsaps College Majors to salvage the final game of a three-game series at the Centenary Softball Complex.
The Ladies (5-10) rebounded from a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Majors (5-8) on Saturday, falling 5-2 in game one and 8-4 in game two. Centenary beat Millsaps for the first time this season after dropping a season-opening DH in Jackson, Miss. on Feb. 9.
Junior P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) picked up the win in the circle for the Ladies as she pitched three innings in relief of starter - junior Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.).
Scarbrock, celebrating her birthday on Sunday, entered the game in the sixth and allowed no runs on just two hits with a strikeout and no walks. She faced 10 batters and threw 23 pitches – 19 for strikes to improve to 3-4 on the season. Shepherd pitched five innings and allowed one earned run on three hits with five walks and two strikeouts. She faced 21 batters and threw 88 pitches (47 strikes).
Mya Skinner (1-2) went the distance for Millsaps and allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. She faced 27 batters, hitting one, and threw 106 pitches with 67 for strikes.
The Majors scored first in the top of the second as 3B Camille Black singled with two outs and LF Katie Norris, who had singled with one out in the inning and reached third base on Black's single, stole home as Black was caught stealing. The strategy paid off, though, as the Majors were willing to trade the final out of the inning for the first run of the game.
The Ladies tied the game in the bottom of the third inning as senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) was hit with the first pitch of her at-bat and reached second on a fielder's choice groundout by senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.). Cox then stole second and she raced to third on a single by sophomore 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.).
Sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) came to the plate and Centenary then pulled the same move that the Majors succeeded with an inning earlier as Stokes drifted halfway between first and second base after Skinner's pitch to Thrasher and Cox stole home to tie the game as Stokes was thrown out. Skinner retired Thrasher on a pop out to end the inning, but the Ladies evened the score.
Four scoreless innings followed as the teams combined for just four total hits in that span. The Ladies had a chance to go ahead in the sixth but Cox was thrown out trying to steal home to end the inning. Millsaps CF Molli Perry singled with two outs in the top of the seventh and Thrasher's perfect throw cut her down trying to steal second as the Ladies had a chance to win the game in the bottom half.
Sophomore P/UT Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) pinch-hit for senior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) with two outs in the seventh and came within inches of hitting a walk-off home run as she crushed a ball off the left-field wall and hustled into second base. Skinner, though, retired sophomore UT River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.) on a flyout to end the inning and send the game to extra innings.
Scarbrock retired the Majors in order in the top of the eighth, despite a runner being automatically being placed on second base per the extra-innings rule, to send the game to the bottom of the eighth still tied at 1-1. Boultinghouse was placed on second base to start the eighth and Stout came to the plate and laid down a bunt to third base and Black scooped it up but threw wildly to first base and the ball went into shallow right field as Boultinghouse scurried home and slid in with the winning run.
The Ladies finished with three hits, drew two walks, struck out three times, and left three on base. The Majors had five hits, walked five times, struck out three times, and left seven on base. Millsaps committed the only two errors in the game, one in the bottom of the second inning on an errant throw by C Cassidy Cannella that allowed sophomore 3B Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.) to reach and then the game-ending error.
Centenary now turns the page to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play as the Ladies will face the University of Dallas Crusaders next weekend at home. The Ladies were picked to finish fifth in the league this season in the preseason poll, their highest predicted finish in five seasons since the 2020 Ladies' squad was picked to finish fourth in a season ultimately cut short due to COVID-19. Dallas (1-9) was picked to finish ninth.
The series begins on Saturday with a DH at 3 and 5 p.m. and concludes on Sunday with a single game at Noon.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://centenary.prestosports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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