Irving, Texas- The No. 6 seed Centenary softball team was blanked 7-0 on Friday in the first round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship by the No. 3 seed Trinity University Tigers at the University of Dallas Softball Facility.
The Ladies (14-20) will face No. 4 seed Schreiner (15-26) in an elimination game on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Mountaineers fell 1-0 to No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran on Friday. The Centenary-Schreiner winner will play the (2) St. Thomas-(5) Southwestern winner at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Centenary, making its sixth-consecutive appearance in the SCAC Tournament, advanced to the championship round last season, doing so for the first time in program history in the division III era before falling 2-1 to perennial conference power Texas Lutheran 2-1 in Kerrville, Texas.
The Ladies fell behind 3-0 after three innings and Trinity added two runs apiece in both the fifth and sixth innings to cruise to the shutout win. Trinity finished with 14 hits while Centenary had seven. Each team made an error and left seven on base. Each team drew one walk while the Tigers did not strike out and the Ladies only struck out twice.
Sophomore RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) went 2-3 to lead the Ladies' offense and stole a base, her 33rd of the season. Junior LF Kaylea Patridge (Las Vegas, Nev.), senior C Erin Lewis (Leesville, La.), and freshman 3B Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.), and freshman SS Brooke Sandefur (Baton Rouge, La.) each had one hit.
Senior P Ashley Hunter (Benton, La.) started for Centenary and suffered the loss as she allowed three runs, all earned, and six hits with no walks and no strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Freshman Katelyn Moss (Olive Branch, Miss.) relieved her and pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, and eight hits with a walk and did not record a strikeout. Hunter threw 37 pitches, 22 for strikes, and faced 12 batters. Moss faced 20 batters, hitting one, and threw 45 pitches (32 strikes).
Cat Patterson (15-10) was the winner for the Tigers as she went six innings and allowed seven hits with a walk and a strikeout. She faced 25 batters and threw 89 pitches, 60 for strikes. Emery Boettcher pitched the seventh and recorded one strikeout. Trinity was led on offense by 2B Sammie Whitman and C Abigail Miller who each collected three hits. LF Jenna Kash and RF Brianna Pena each had two hits and Kash and Jessica Lloyd each had two RBI.
For complete coverage of this year's 2022 SCAC Softball Tournament, click to the official website
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2021-22/schedule
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