Jackson, Miss. - The Centenary softball team was swept in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon by the nationally-ranked Belhaven University Blazers by scores of 6-0 in game one and 7-3 in game two at McLeod Field.
The Ladies (0-4) were also swept in a DH at Millsaps on Friday to open their season. Belhaven, currently ranked 12th in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, improved to 2-0 with Tuesday's sweep.
Game one recap: Belhaven 6 Centenary 0
Belhaven struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-0 lead and added three more in the fourth and a single run in the fifth to cruise to the shutout win.
Sophomore Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) started and took the loss to fall to 0-1 on the young season as she allowed two runs, both earned, and four hits in three innings with four walks and one strikeout. She faced 17 batters and threw 64 pitches (31 strikes). Junior LHP Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.) pitched the final three innings and yielded four runs, all earned, on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts. She faced 18 batters and threw 72 pitches, 40 for strikes.
Kennedy Carruth (1-0) was the winner in the circle for the Blazers as she went the distance and allowed just two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. She faced 22 batters, hitting one, and threw 69 pitches – 52 for strikes.
Katie Jo Richardson went 3-4 with four RBI to pace the Blazers' offense and 3B Allie Gordon went 2-4 with an RBI and scored a run as the two combined for six of Belhaven's 10 hits. Senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) had both of Centenary's hits as she recorded her second-straight multi-hit game. The Ladies struck out nine times, did not draw a walk, committed one error, and left one on base. The Blazers drew seven walks, struck out five times, left 11 on base, and did not commit an error.
Richardson's two-RBI single put Belhaven up 2-0 in the third and she struck again in the fourth with a two-run double to make it 5-0. The Blazers scored an unearned run in the fourth and Gordon capped the scoring with an RBI double in the fifth.
Game two recap: Belhaven 7 Centenary 3
The Blazers took control immediately, scoring four times in the bottom half of the first and added two more in the second for an early 6-0 lead. The Ladies scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings and the Blazers scored their final run in the fifth. Centenary had seven hits, drew three walks, struck out three times, left eight on base, and committed three errors. Belhaven finished with nine hits, drew four walks, struck out three times, committed one error, and left seven on base.
Junior P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) started and took the loss as she fell to 0-2 on the season after working an inning and allowing six runs, two earned, and four hits with no walks and one strikeout. She allowed one home run, and faced 10 batters, throwing 41 pitches (22 strikes). Sophomore P Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) relieved her and worked the final five innings as she allowed one earned run and five hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. She threw 73 pitches (35) strikes and faced 22 batters.
Taylor Heaton started for the Blazers and picked up the win to move to 1-0 on the season. She went 5.2 innings and allowed one earned run and four hits with two walks and two K's. She faced 23 batters and threw 65 pitches, 42 for strikes. Natalie Parker came on in relief and went the final 1.1 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits with a walk and a K as she hit one batter of the nine she faced and threw 35 pitches (20 strikes).
Carruth, the game one winner in the circle, was the designated player in game two and went reached on an error in the first by senior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) which allowed a run to score and make it 1-0, 1B Ellie Jones followed with an RBI double to score Carruth, and two more unearned runs followed in the frame.
RF Mary Moore Widemire homered leading off the second to make it 5-0 and LF Madison Miller had an RBI triple to score Parker and make it 6-0. Sophomore 3B Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.) got the Ladies on the board in the fourth with an RBI single to score freshman LF Janae Bland (Livingston, Texas) and Dominguez' RBI single in the fifth brought home sophomore 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) to make it 6-2. Maddie Russell had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it a 7-2 game and Dawson delivered a SAC fly of her in the sixth to score Bland with the Ladies' final run of the game.
Dawson was 2-2 with two RBI, Bland finished 1-2 with two runs scored, Stokes was 1-4 with a run, Dominguez finished 1-3 with an RBI and a walk, sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) went 1-4 and sophomore SS River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.) was 1-2 with a walk and a stolen base. Senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) was held without a hit as she went 0-3 but she walked once and stole a base, her fifth of the season.
The Ladies will head home for a pair of non-conference series this weekend against Hardin-Simmons University (Friday, Feb. 16 at 4 and 6 p.m.) and Howard Payne University (Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2 and 4 p.m.).
PLEASE NOTE: The possibility of inclement weather may alter the dates and times of the games this weekend.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://centenary.prestosports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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