Kerrville, Texas - The No. 5 seed Centenary softball team won a pair of games on Sunday, the second victory giving head coach Mark Suire 100 career wins, and propelled the red-hot Ladies into Monday's championship round of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship against No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran at 11 a.m. at Mountaineer Softball Field.
The Ladies (18-19) must defeat the Bulldogs (27-4) twice to claim their first SCAC tournament championship The Maroon and White were facing elimination in both games after the tournament transitioned into a modified single elimination format on Sunday following wo days of inclement weather. Centenary defeated No. 3 seed Trinity (16-15) by a score of 8-3 in its first game of the day to eliminate the Tigers. The Ladies then defeated a drama-filled 2-1 win in eight innings over No. 2 seed and host Schreiner to clinch a berth in Monday's championship round.
Centenary opened the tournament on Friday with a 10-4 win over No. 4 seed Southwestern in the first round and then had its second game of the day against No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran suspended due to weather in the second inning with the Ladies trailing, 2-0.
The Ladies entered the weekend on a six-game losing streak but have caught fire in the tournament and in the process have reached the championship round for the first time in program history. Suire is no stranger to success in the event during his Ladies' tenure though, finishing third three times (2016, 2018, and 2019). Centenary has tied its program record for wins in the championship as the Maroon and White also won three games each time they earned third-place finishes.
Game One Recap:
Trinity took a 1-0 lead after the first inning, but the Ladies scored four in the top of the third and added a pair in the fourth to lead 6-1 after five innings. Centenary added two more in the top of the seventh and finished with 15 hits to cruise to the 8-4 win.
Junior 2B Jaymee Wilkinson (Brazoria, Texas) went 4-4 with an RBI, a run scored, a double, and a stolen base. Wilkinson's four hits are a career single-game record and she continued her recent offensive tear as she is 10-18 at the plate over her last five games with four RBI, four runs scored, three doubles, two stolen bases, and a walk. She is 7-17 in the three tournament games so far and now has four multi-hit games this season.
Sophomore LF Kaylea Patridge (Las Vegas, Nev.) went 3-4 with three RBI, two runs scored, a double, and a stolen base. Fellow sophomore, CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) matched Patridge with three hits of her own with an RBI and two runs scored. Ladies' freshman right fielder Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) went 2-4 with two runs scored and a walk and senior catcher Erin Lewis (Leesville, La.) was 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Junior Ashley Hunter (Benton, La.) started and picked up the win to improve to 6-4. She allowed three runs, all earned, and eight hits in 5.1 innings of work with no walks and four strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Hailee Leger (Belle Chasse, La.) relieved her and went the final 1.2 innings. She walked a pair and allowed two hits but did not allow a run.
Trinity starter Allie Holbrook suffered the loss as she went just 3.1 innings and was hit hard for six earned runs and 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Cat Patterson relieved her and allowed two runs, both earned, and five hits with no walks and three K's.
Game Two Recap:
The game was scoreless until Schreiner scored in the bottom of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. The Ladies then tied it in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Lewis. Following a scoreless seventh inning, the game moved to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Lewis stepped to the plate with two outs and the go-ahead runner at second. The senior delivered a clutch RBI single to score Cox and give the Ladies a 2-1 lead.
Leger, the game two starter, got Kaylee Culpepper to line into a game-ending double play with one on and the Ladies celebrated a berth in Sunday's championship round. Leger picked up the win as she went the distance to improve to 9-10 on the season. She allowed just the one earned run and scattered five hits in her eight innings of work with a walk and three strikeouts. Culpepper relived starter Bri Wodtke and suffered the loss in the circle. Culpepper (7-5) allowed the game-winning hit to Lewis with a walk and four K's in 2.2 innings.
The Ladies have now collected double-digit hits in a game seven times this season and three times in the last five games including a season-high 15 on Friday versus Southwestern and in game one on Sunday versus Trinity.
Please check the tournament central web site for more information and a complete schedule: https://scacsports.prestosports.com/tournament/spring/softball/21championships/index
A link to the Ladies' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2020-21/schedule
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