Ladies Look To Extend Season-Best Winning Streak At Southwestern

Georgetown, Texas – The Centenary softball team aims to extend its season-long four-game winning streak as the Ladies hit the road to face the Southwestern University Pirates in a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Taylor-Sanders Field.

Live stats and live video are available for all three games at the links below:

Stats: https://www.southwesternpirates.com/sports/w-softbl/2023-24/boxscores/20240405_2edi.xml

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXFrmAK-isI

The Ladies (12-14, 7-2 SCAC) and Pirates (8-20, 5-4 SCAC) will complete the series on Saturday with a doubleheader set for 1 and 3 p.m. Southwestern, 4-12 at home this season, recorded a series win at St. Thomas last weekend. Centenary, 3-8 on the road, has won eight of its last 12 games overall.

Centenary is coming off of a three-game series sweep at home last weekend over Schreiner as the Maroon and White blanked the Mountaineers 8-0 in six innings in the series opener and then swept a doubleheader, winning game one by a score of 5-0 and taking game two, 5-1.

The Ladies are off to their best start in conference play since beginning the 2019 campaign 8-0. Centenary is tied for second place in the conference standings with Trinity and are just a game behind SCAC leader Texas Lutheran and is one game ahead of St. Thomas. The Pirates are currently fifth in the conference standings.

Centenary is beginning its longest road trip of the season this weekend as the Maroon and White will face Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas on the road in SCAC play following this weekend's series in Georgetown. The Ladies will finish the regular season at home April 27-28 against Trinity.

The Ladies won two of three games over the Pirates last season at home and then won an elimination game over them in the SCAC Tournament in San Antonio. The Pirates took two of three games during the 2022 season in the Ladies' most recent trip to Georgetown.

The Ladies are hitting .308 as a team with a .366 on-base percentage and are slugging .379. They average 4.7 runs per game and have a team ERA of 3.33. Centenary has collected 218 hits, 39 for extra bases, with 268 total bases which includes 59 walks and 14 HBP. The Ladies have 15 sacrifice flies and have stolen 51 bases. The Ladies have collected 10+ hits in game 13 times this season and done so in four of their last seven games.

The Ladies are ranked in the top five in the conference in batting average, OBP, slugging, hits, runs, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, total bases, stolen bases, sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts. Centenary is tied for 42^nd nationally in stolen bases with 51.

Senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) was named the SCAC Hitter of the Week on Monday as she was red-hot last week for the Ladies, finishing 6-13 (.462) at the plate with a .500 OBP and slugged .846 in four games. Cox had six RBI, scored five runs, stole four bases, and walked twice. She ripped an inside-the-park home run, the first HR of her career, on Saturday against Schreiner and had a triple against Dallas on March 26. Cox had three multi-hit games as she helped lead the Ladies to a win against Dallas on Tuesday in a makeup game and a weekend sweep over Schreiner.

Cox is fifth in the conference in batting average (.446) and leads the league in runs scored – 33. She has a .524 on-base percentage and is slugging .578 with a team-leading 37 hits and has 14 RBI, three triples, a homer, two doubles, and 16 walks compared to just six strikeouts in 83 at-bats. She has 13 multi-hit games this season including a pair of three-hit performances. Cox is second nationally in division III in stolen bases with 34 while only being caught twice all season. She has stolen two or more bases in a game 10 times this season.

Junior P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) is fourth in the SCAC in ERA (2.54) and fourth in innings pitched (63.1). She is 6-5 in a team-leading 13 appearances and 11 starts with 22 strikeouts and only six walks. Scarbrock was named the SCAC Softball Pitcher of the Week on March 18 after she was masterful in the circle in the Ladies' 7-0 win over Dallas on March 16. She tossed a complete-game shutout and needed only 50 pitches to do so. She allowed just two hits with no walks and one strikeout. She faced 24 batters, hitting one, and threw 40 of her 50 pitches for strikes. Scarbrock earned the honor for the second time in her career and first time since April 20, 2022. 

Junior Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.) is second in the SCAC with a team-leading 2.21 ERA. She is 2-1 this season with a save and a complete game and ranks seventh in the league in strikeouts with 29 in 38.0 IP. She has made 11 appearances and two starts. Sophomore P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.) is 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA (eighth in SCAC) in 11 appearances and six starts. She has 20 K's in 32.1 IP.

Sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) is the Ladies' leader in RBI with 18 which is tied for sixth in the conference. She is fourth on the team in hits with 24 and is hitting .286 with a .301 OBP and is slugging .405. Her seven doubles lead the team and she has scored 13 runs, walked twice, and only struck out seven times in 84 at-bats. She has stolen four bases without being caught.

Thrasher was named the conference Hitter of the Week on March 4 after she had a big weekend for the Ladies, going 5-for-8 (.625) with seven RBI in four games at home against Arlington Baptist and Concordia. She had three doubles, scored two runs, and stole one base. Thrasher went 4-for-7 with six RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base in the Ladies' DH sweep of Arlington Baptist. Thrasher had a .750 on-base percentage over the four games and slugged 1.667.

Sophomore SS Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) is in the midst of an impressive season as a follow-up to a stellar rookie campaign as she is hitting .329 with a .396 OBP and is slugging .353. Stokes is second on the team in hits (28), second in runs scored (14), and tied for third in RBI with 12. She has 10 walks and only four strikeouts in 85 at-bats and has stolen one base in three attempts.

Senior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) is batting .333 (.379 OBP/.385 slugging) with 26 hits (third on team), 12 RBI (tied for third on team), four doubles (third on team), and eight runs scored. She has six walks and only seven K's in 78 at-bats and has stolen one base in three attempts.

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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