Ladies Drop Doubleheader At Austin College On Sunday

Sherman, Texas – The Centenary softball team was swept in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday by the Austin College 'Roos, falling 6-4 in game one and 5-3 in game two at Sherman High School.

The Ladies (8-14, 3-2 SCAC) opened the series on Saturday with a 6-5 comeback win before falling in the final two games to the 'Roos (13-10, 2-4 SCAC).

Centenary returns home on Tuesday to face the University of Dallas Crusaders in a makeup game from the March 16-17 series. The Ladies swept a doubleheader on March 16 over the Crusaders, winning game by 7-0 and game two 4-1 but game three was postponed to weather.

Game one recap: Austin College 6 Centenary 4

The Ladies jumped out to a 2-0 lead after their first at-bat and the 'Roos answered with one run in the bottom of the first. Centenary scored a single run in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead, but Austin College scored three times in the bottom half to take a 4-3 lead.

The Ladies tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth but the 'Roos scored twice in the bottom half to take a 6-4 lead and secure the win.

Centenary finished with eight hits and interestingly did not walk nor strikeout all game. The Ladies made one error, left six on base, hit into one double play, and stole one base. Austin College had 10 hits, walked three times, struck out once, stole on base, left seven on base, and overcame four errors.

Sophomore P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.) started in the circle for the Ladies and went three innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits with two walks, one strikeout, and allowed one home run. Junior Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.) relieved Myers and suffered the loss as she allowed two runs, both earned, and five hits in three innings with a walk. Myers faced 16 batters and threw 66 pitches (38 strikes) while Shepherd faced 15, hit one, and threw 46 pitches – 29 for strikes.

Hailie Swiatkowski went the distance in the circle for Austin College and picked up the win as she allowed four runs, all earned, and eight hits in her seven innings of work with no walks and no strikeouts. She faced 32 batters, hitting one and throwing one wild pitch, and threw 89 pitches – 62 for strikes.

Senior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) led the Ladies on offense with three hits while five others had one hit each. Dominguez smacked a pair of doubles and had an RBI and a run scored. Her RBI double in the first inning gave the Ladies a 2-0 lead. Senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) finished 1-4 with a triple and a run scored, sophomore SS Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) was 1-4, and senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) went 1-3.

Sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) finished 1-3 with an RBI single and scored a run and stole a base. Sophomore DP Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) was 1-4 with an RBI double in the first to give Centenary a 1-0 lead and scored a run, and sophomore 2B Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) went 0-3 but had an RBI fielder's choice groundout.

Austin College was led on offense by the trio of Tori Fowler, Chyrsi Hemby, and Alissandra Tobar who finished a combined 6-10 with three RBI and three runs scored. Elizabeth Preston was 1-3 with a run scored and Hannah King was 1-3 with a two-run home run and a run scored. Fowler had a tiebreaking RBI double in the sixth along with a stolen base and Hemby had a double and a triple. Lyndsey Busch was 1-3 and Faith Butler finished 1-1 with a run scored and a walk.

RBI doubles by Hodgson and Dominguez gave the Ladies an early 2-0 lead but Preston scored on an error by Thrasher to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the first. Thrasher made up for that miscue with an RBI single in the third to score Cox for a 3-1 lead. Hemby's triple scored Fowler in the bottom half and King's two-run shot gave the 'Roos a 4-3 lead. Dominguez scored on Crow's grounder to tie the game in the sixth, but RBI doubles in the bottom half by Fowler and Hemby broke the tie and gave the 'Roos the 6-4 lead.

Swiatkowski retired Stokes and Thrasher on fly outs to begin the top of the seventh but Hodgson reached on an error when Hemby dropped a pop up. Dominguez then singled but Hodgson was thrown out at third base to end the game.

Game two recap: Austin College 5 Centenary 3

The 'Roos scored twice in their first at-bat and added a single run in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. The Ladies scored once in the top of the fourth and then once in the sixth to make it 3-2, but Austin College added a pair in its half of the sixth to extend the lead to 5-2. Centenary then scored once in the top of the seventh to make it 5-3 but Thrasher flew out with two on base to end the game as the Ladies were swept in the DH.

Centenary finished with seven hits, three walks, one strikeout, and left six on base. Austin College had six hits, drew eight walks, struck out five times, and left nine on base. Neither team committed an error.

Sophomore P Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) started in the circle and lasted just 1.2 innings as she allowed three runs, one earned, and one hit but walked seven batters with two K's. She faced 13 batters, hitting one, and threw 54 pitches – 18 strikes. Roach gave way to Hodgson who went the final 4.1 innings and suffered the loss. She allowed two runs, both earned, and five hits with a BB and three K's. She faced 19 batters and threw 60 pitches (37 strikes).

Alexus Johnson tossed the second-straight complete game for the 'Roos as she allowed three earned runs and seven hits in her seven innings of work with three BB and one K. She faced 30 batters, threw one wild pitch, and threw 111 pitches with 69 for strikes.

Preston and Fowler were a combined 4-8 with three runs scored at the top of the order and Johnson helped herself as she was 2-2 at the plate with a double and a run scored. Hemby finished 0-2 with an RBI groundout and a run scored, Busch had an RBI groundout, and Carrie Johnson was 0-1 with two BB and a sacrifice fly. The 'Roos stole four bases as Fowler swiped a pair and Carrie Johnson and Preston each stole one.

Thrasher was 2-3 with two runs scored and a walk, Cox went 1-3 with an RBI double and a walk, Stokes was 0-3 with a walk, and Dominguez went 1-1. Shepherd was 2-3 with an RBI single and an RBI double and freshman LF Taylor Good (Flower Mound, Texas) was 1-3 with a run scored and a double.

The Ladies, down 5-2 entering the top of the seventh, made it a two-run game as Cox doubled home good with two outs to make it 5-3. Stokes walked to put the tying runs on base, but Alexus Johnson got Thrasher to fly to center to end the threat and the game.

See the complete Ladies' season schedule here:  https://centenary.prestosports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/schedule 

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