Seguin, Texas- The No. 5 seed Centenary softball team opens the 2024 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship against the No .4 seed Southwestern University Pirates on Friday at 11 a.m. at Ed Kruse Stadium – Morck Softball Field.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
Stats: https://scacsports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/boxscores/20240503_m0c7.xml
Video: https://www.youtube.com/@tluathletics/featured
Championship Central: https://scacsports.com/tournament/spring/softball/24championships/index
The Ladies (13-25, 8-13 SCAC) finished fifth in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season after being picked to finish fifth in the league this season in the preseason poll. The Pirates (15-24, 12-8 SCAC) finished fourth after being picked to finish third in the preseason poll.
Centenary is one of just two league programs to win at least one SCAC Tournament game in the last five tournaments. The Ladies went 1-2 in last season's event as they lost to Trinity University by a score of 1-0 in their opening gamed, then defeated the Pirates 3-1 in an elimination game, and were eliminated by Texas Lutheran University 8-0 in six innings.
TLU, ranked 12th in the latest NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after recording its 10th-straight regular-season conference title. The Centenary-Southwestern winner will face the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. on Friday. This weekend marks the Ladies' second visit to Seguin this season after being swept by the Bulldogs last month. Friday is also the fourth meeting between the Ladies and Pirates this season as Maroon and White dropped two of three games in Georgetown, Texas last month.
The University of St. Thomas, the No. 3 seed, will face Austin College, the No. 6 seed in Friday's second game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Trinity, the No. 2 seed, and the top-seeded Bulldogs received byes into the second round. Trinity will face the Austin College-St. Thomas winner. The tournament features a double-elimination format. The championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Ladies aim to snap a 10-game losing streak on Friday as they lost the rubber game to the Pirates in a three-game series on April 6 and then were swept by the Bulldogs, the University of St. Thomas, and Trinity in three-straight series to end the regular season. Centenary lost a 2-1 heartbreaker on Sunday to Trinity, falling on Senior Day in eight innings. The Ladies were swept in a doubleheader last Saturday, 5-2 in game one and 8-7 in game two.
The Ladies are hitting .296 as a team with a .361 on-base percentage and are slugging .368. They have scored 171 runs, average 4.5 runs per game and have a team ERA of 4.25. Centenary has collected 307 hits, 60 for extra bases, with 381 total bases which includes 97 walks and 17 HBP. The Ladies have 15 sacrifice flies and have stolen 71 bases. Centenary is ranked in the top five in the conference in batting average, hits, runs scored, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, stolen bases, HBP, doubles, triples, and stolen bases. The Ladies have collected 10+ hits in game 16 times this season and are tied for 88th in the country in hits and tied for 81st in stolen bases.
Ladies' Individual Season Statistical Leaders:
At-Bats: Sophomore SS/2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.) – 124
Batting Average: Senior RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.) Cox - .455
On-base percentage: Cox - .536
Slugging percentage: Cox - .610
Hits: Cox – 56
Runs: Cox – 47
RBI: Sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) -23
HBP: Senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) – 4
Walks: Cox – 24
Doubles: Thrasher -10
Triples: Cox – 4
Home Runs: Three tied with 1 each (Cox, Dominguez, and Thrasher)
Stolen Bases: Cox – 48
Wins: Junior P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.) – 6
ERA: Scarbrock – 2.54
Strikeouts: Junior LHP Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.) – 44
Cox, likely to be named First-Team All-SCAC for the fourth-straight season when the All-conference teams are announced this weekend, enters the championship as one of the nation's top all-around players. She is fifth in the conference in batting average, leads the league in runs scored and triples, tied for the league lead in hits, and is second in stolen bases. Cox is tied for 78th nationally in batting average, is tied for 22nd in hits, and is second in the country in stolen bases with 48 in 51 attempts. Cox, named the SCAC Hitter of the Week once during the season, has 19 multi-hit games this season including five games with 3-hits and has stolen two or more bases in a game 15 times this season.
Thrasher ended the regular season tied for eighth in the country in RBI and was sixth in doubles. Stokes ranked eighth in hits and both Scarbrock and Shepherd ranked in the top 10 in the league in ERA as Scarbrock was third and Shepherd eighth. Shepherd also ranked sixth in strikeouts.
Thrasher is hitting .295 (.316 OBP/.402 slugging) with a home run, 18 runs scored, 36 hits and five stolen bases and Stokes is batting .331 (.396 OBP/.363 slugging) with 41 hits, 25 runs scored, 16 RBI, three stolen bases, four doubles, and 14 walks with only five strikeouts in 124 at-bats.
Scarbrock has not pitched since she suffered an injury against Schreiner on March 29 at home. She was in the midst of an outstanding season as she is 6-5 with a 2.54 ERA in 13 appearances and 11 starts. She has struck out 22 and walked only six batters in 63.1 IP. She started that game against Schreiner and went 5.1 innings and allowed just three hits with a strikeout but left after being hit in the hand with a line drive. Scarbrock was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on March 18. Shepherd is 2-4 in the circle with a 3.28 ERA, two complete games and a save in 18 appearances and four starts.
Shepherd is 2-2 in the circle with a 3.13 ERA, two complete games and a save in 16 appearances and three starts. She ranks eighth in the conference in strikeouts with 39 in 53.2 IP. Sophomore P Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) has made 13 appearances and 10 starts and is 1-7 with a 7.90 ERA.
Sophomore P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.) is 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 17 appearances and 11 starts. She has struck out 32 batters in 49.0 IP. Sophomore 2B/P Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) is 0-3 with a 6.49 ERA and one save in seven appearances and two starts. She is also hitting .236 in 72 at-bats with 17 hits, 10 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, and seven RBI.
Senior 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) is hitting .304 (.359 OBP/.400 slugging) with 35 hits, 21 RBI, 10 walks, a home run, eight doubles, and 10 runs scored. Sophomore 3B Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.) had a solid first season with the Ladies as she is hitting .253 with a .318 OBP and is slugging .280. She has 19 hits, 12 RBI, six walks, two doubles, and eight runs scored while sophomore DP Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) is hitting .379 (.471 OBP/.483 slugging) with 22 hits, 13 RBI, six doubles, seven walks, and two runs scored. Hodgson has also appeared in the circle eight times and is 0-3 with a 4.75 ERA.
Freshman LF Janae Bland (Livingston, Texas) is hitting .221 with 15 hits, six runs scored, and six RBI and sophomore River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.) is batting .267 with a .329 OBP and is slugging .387 in 75 at-bats. She has 20 hits, 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, three doubles, three triples, and four stolen bases. Stout, in addition to being the team leader in HBP, has 19 hits, 11 runs scored, eight RBI, eight walks, and three stolen bases.
Since the inception of the SCAC Softball Tournament in the 1999 season, Texas Lutheran (2014-19, 2021-22) has claimed a league-record eight tournament titles and Trinity (1999, 2000-02, 2005-07) follows closely with seven. DePauw University won three (2008-09, '11), Southwestern two (2010, '13) and Millsaps College (2003), Sewanee-University of the South (2004), Birmingham-Southern College (2012) and St. Thomas (2023) have one title apiece.
For complete coverage of this year's 2024 SCAC Softball Tournament, click to the official website and don't forget to follow the SCAC on Facebook and Twitter and become a fan of the league on Instagram.
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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