Shreveport- The Centenary softball team recorded its biggest victory in the division III era (2012-present) on Saturday as the Ladies edged No. 4 Texas Lutheran University 7-6 in game one of a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader before falling 8-1 in game two to earn a split at the Centenary Softball Complex.
The Ladies (6-14, 2-4 SCAC) handed the Bulldogs, ranked fourth nationally by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), their first conference loss since March 2, 2019 against Southwestern with the game one win. TLU (16-3, 5-1 SCAC) responded with the win in game two. The Ladies had only beaten the Bulldogs twice in 33 all-time meetings (two wins in 1990) before Saturday.
Game one recap: Centenary 7 TLU 6
The landmark win did not start out promising, as the Bulldogs took an early 4-0 lead after their first at-bat. But, the determined Ladies answered with six runs in the bottom of the second to take a 6-4 lead, one they would never relinquish en route to the thrilling win.
Freshman P Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) started and picked up the win and her first-career complete game as she allowed six runs, five earned, and seven hits in her seven innings of work. She walked four and struck out three.
The Maroon and White added a run in the fourth to extend the lead to 7-4 and the Bulldogs scored once in the sixth to cut their deficit to 7-5. The tension was apparent as the game moved to the seventh inning.
2B Caelee Clark singled to lead off the seventh and SS Linzee Leal sacrificed her to second. RF Madison Johnson struck out for the first out but Serena Gonzalez singled ripped a ball to shortstop that deflected hard off of the face of sophomore SS Brooke Sandefur (Denham Springs, La.) for an infield single to score Clark and make it 7-6. Laura Hernandez then singled to right center to put runners at first and second with two outs. Roach, though, got pinch-hitter Kylee Jack to ground out to second base to end the game and the celebration began.
Amanda White (6-3) took the loss for the Bulldogs as she started and was tagged for six runs, all earned and six hits with a pair of walks and one strikeout in just 1.2 IP. Sydney Ouellette pitched the final 4.1 innings and allowed one earned run and three hits with no BB, a hit batter, and one K.
Sophomore 3B Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.) started the Ladies' rally in the second inning with a single up the middle and junior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) sacrificed her to second. Senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) then walked to put runners on first and second with one out and freshman C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) reached on an infield single to short to load the bases.
Sophomore 1B Kaitlyn Dickey (Church Point, La.) struck out looking for the second out but the Ladies responded with four-consecutive hits to take their 6-4 lead, stunning the Bulldogs. Sandefur started the comeback with an RBI single to right to score Rivero. Junior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) then delivered one of the biggest hits of her career as she smashed a bases-clearing double to left-center field to tie the game. Freshman 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) then kept the hit parade going with a single which scored Cox and moved to second on the throw.
Senior LF Kaylea Patridge (Las Vegas, Nev.) doubled home Stokes and White was pulled for Ouellette. Rivero reached on an error and Patridge moved to third base, but Ouellette escaped further trouble as she got Dominguez to foul out. The damage was done though as the Ladies rocked the Bulldogs for six runs on six hits. Cox doubled with one out in the fourth and Patridge drove her in with an RBI single up the middle to make it 7-4.
Centenary finished with nine hits and three extra-base hits while TLU had seven hits and two extra-base hits. The Ladies walked twice, only struck out twice, and left four on base while committing one error. The Bulldogs drew four walks, struck out three times, left six on, and also made one error.
Cox led the way on offense for the Ladies as she went 3-3 with three RBI, two runs, and a walk. Patridge went 2-3 with two RBI and Stokes was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Rivero, Trasher, and Sandefur each had a hit and Stout walked and scored a run.
Game two recap: TLU 8 Centenary 1
The Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the first and the Ladies tied it with a run in the bottom of the second, but TLU scored five times in the third and added one more in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead. The Bulldogs scored one more in the sixth and held Centenary to just five hits. TLU banged out 12 hits and had four doubles. The Bulldogs struck out five times, left five on base, committed one error and did not draw a walk. The Ladies also did not walk and struck out three times. They left three on base and committed one error.
Stokes was 2-3, and Stout, Thrasher, and freshman RF Sophie Vidrine (Eunice, La.) had the Ladies' only RBI with a single that drove in Stout. Hernandez had a game-high three hits for the Bulldogs and Clark, Leal, and CF Kirsten Williams each had two. Johnson was 1-3 with three RBI and a run scored, and C Isabella Rodriguez was 1-3 with an RBI.
Sophomore P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) started and lasted just 2.2 innings as she suffered the loss to fall to 4-5. She allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits with no walks and five K's. She faced 15 batters and threw 50 pitches – 34 for strikes. Freshman Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) relieved her and went the final 4.1 innings and allowed just two runs, both earned, and six hits with no walks and no K's. She faced 19 batters and threw 53 pitches (36 strikes).
Ashlyn Strother, the Bulldogs' winning pitcher on Friday night, improved to 9-0 as she went the distance and allowed just one unearned run and five hits with no walks and three K's. She faced 25 batters and threw 87 pitches (60 strikes).
Centenary returns to action on Tuesday with a home non-conference doubleheader versus LeTourneau University (4/6 p.m.).
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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