Arnaudville, La. - The Centenary softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with the Millsaps Majors on Saturday afternoon as the Ladies wrapped up a three-game weekend neutral-site series at Beau Chene High School.
The Ladies (5-2) took game one by a score of 4-1 and fell 3-2 in the second game. Millsaps won the opener of the series on Friday night by a score of 5-0. Centenary is off to its best start to a season since beginning 6-1 in 2018. Millsaps improved to 2-3 on the season after Saturday's DH split.
Game one recap:
The Ladies scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to erase an earl 1-0 deficit and added an insurance run in the sixth to seal the 4-1 win. Junior Ashley Hunter (Benton, La.) started in the circle and picked up her team-high third win of the season. She went five innings and allowed just one earned run, on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Freshman Hailee Leger (Belle Chasse, La.) relieved Hunter and pitched the final two innings allowing just a single hit. Karley Williams suffered the loss for the Majors as she allowed four runs, all earned, in six innings of work with a walk and six K's.
Sophomore third baseman Britlyn Garrett (Stonewall, La.) went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead led the Ladies' offense. Freshman right fielder Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored as she delivered a game-tying RBI single in the fifth and later scored along with Garrett on an error which gave the Ladies a 3-1 lead. Garrett's RBI single in the sixth capped the scoring. Third baseman Lindsey Osbon went 2-3 for the Majors with their lone RBI.
Game two recap:
Millsaps scored first in the second game, putting a pair of runs on the board in the top of the third and then the Ladies answered with one in the bottom half of the inning. Senior catcher Erin Lewis (Leesville, La.) hit her second-career home run and first of the season to get the Ladies on the board. The Majors added a run in the top of the fifth and Centenary got a run in the bottom half of the sixthy but went down in order in the seventh.
Junior Kirstyn Gomez (Deer Park, Texas) started for the Ladies and took the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season. She went three innings and allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits with a walk and 3 K's. Freshman Cambry Bates (Readhimer, La.) came in relief of Gomez in the fourth inning and allowed the first three batters to reach to load the bases. Leger then came in and got three straight outs to escape the jam and keep it a one-run deficit. Leger pitched the final four innings and allowed just one unearned run on one hit with no walks and three K's. Through 27.3 innings pitched this season, Leger has still yet to walk a batter and has allowed just four earned runs, 13 hits, and has struck out 18.
Bates and fellow freshman Isabelle Dominguez ( Newark, Calf. ) had the Ladies' other two hits in the game. Osbon's three-hit performance led the Majors. Hayleigh Rogers was the winner in the circle for the Majors as she pitched a complete game, allowing the two runs on three hits with a strikeout and three walks.
The Ladies will next face ETBU on Monday in a non-conference DH in Marshall, Texas with games set for 5 and 7 p.m. Centenary is scheduled to open Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at home next weekend when the Ladies face Austin College March 6-7.
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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