Shreveport- The Centenary softball team battled nationally-ranked Texas Lutheran University to the very end but came up short 1-0 on Friday night in the series opener of three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series at the Centenary Softball Complex.
The series between the Ladies (5-13, 1-3 SCAC) and No. 4 Bulldogs (15-2, 4-0 SCAC) concludes on Saturday with a doubleheader set for 1 and 3 p.m. NOTE: the original game times were NOON and 2 PM.
The Ladies (5-13, 1-3 SCAC) were held to just two hits while the No. 4 Bulldogs (15-2, 4-0 SCAC) finished with eight hits. TLU won its 66th-consecutive conference game and is ranked fourth in the country by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Sophomore P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) was the tough-luck loser to fall to 4-4 as she pitched a complete game and allowed just one unearned run and eight hits in her seven innings of work with four walks and three strikeouts. TLU starter Ashlyn Strother (8-0) picked up the win as she also went the distance, allowing just the two hits with a walk, a hit batter, and eight K's.
The Bulldogs scored the game's only run in the top of the third inning as 2B Caelee Clark singled and stole second base. SS Linzee Leal reached on a fielder's choice and Clark scored on a throwing error by junior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.). Scarbrock, though, escaped further damage by getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.
The Ladies left two on base in the third as Strother worked around a hit batter and a walk, and Scarbrock was in a jam in the sixth but got a groundout to end the threat as the Bulldogs left the bases loaded. Junior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) singled to lead off the sixth for the Ladies and sophomore 3B Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.) sacrificed her to second, putting the potential tying run in scoring position.
Strother, however, got freshman C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) to pop out to second and struck out senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) to end the inning. TLU left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, missing a chance to add to its lead. CF Annie Kay worked a one-out walk following an impressive 16-pitch battle with Scarbrock to load the bases. But, Scarbrock refocused and got Clark to lineout and struck out pinch-hitter Kloee Wells to end the inning.
The Bulldogs again left two on in the top of the seventh to give the Ladies a chance only down 1-0, but Strother retired freshman 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) on a lineout to begin the inning and struck out sophomore Alyssa Akers (Maurice, La.) and Dominguez to end the game.
The Bulldogs struggled to cash in all game long, leaving 13 on base, but made their one run hold up. TLU drew four walks, struck out three times, and committed one error while Centenary walked once, struck out eight times, left five on, and made four errors. The single by Cox and a one-out single by Dominguez were the Ladies' only hits, and two of just five baserunners in the game for the Maroon and White.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests and Live stats and live video stream are available for all home contests as well. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.
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