No. 1 Texas Lutheran Defeats UD Softball in SCAC Opener on Friday
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas softball team opened Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play with a home setback to No. 1 Texas Lutheran University on Friday night. Things were even after three innings for the teams, as the Crusaders scored a tying run in the third frame. TLU erupted for seven runs in the fourth and took advantage of five errors in the victory to remain unblemished overall.
(Game Information) (F/5)
Team Scores: Texas Lutheran (9), Dallas (1)
Team Records: Texas Lutheran (9-0, 1-0 SCAC), Dallas (4-7, 0-1 SCAC)
Pitcher Records: W) Oliveira (4-0), L) Watts (3-3)
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first with Kelly Jurden scoring on an error with two outs. Dallas had two walks in the bottom of the frame but let two runners on.
Dallas answered in the third inning with four batters in a row reaching starting with leadoff hitter Kerstyn McLain (Splendora, Texas) bunting for a single down the third base line. A trio of consecutive walks to Madison Coutts (Tampa, Fla.), Annabel Anderson (Midlothian, Texas), and Julie Duenas (Houston, Texas) led to the tying run.
Though that is all UD got. Maggie Watts (Arcadia, La.) had sat down seven straight batters before TLU's Rebecca Snow led the fourth inning off with a single up the middle. Another single followed by Chassety Raines but an additional fielding error allowed the runners to advance to second and third. An RBI-groundout by Madisyn Cates put the Bulldogs up for good. Haley Padilla doubled to left center and two more singles followed to increase the top-ranked team's lead to three (4-1). Jurden hit a two-out single to left to make it 5-1, and then a third defensive miscue allowed three more unearned runs to finish the big frame where things had unraveled on an otherwise competitive night for UD.
TLU got another unearned run in the fifth to set the eight-run margin.
Dallas' top two hitters McLain and Coutts recorded the only hits in the game. The Crusaders worked five walks. Watts was saddled with the loss, as she allowed four earned runs on eight hits in four innings. She did not allow a walk and struck out one. Karina Campo (Georgetown, Texas) threw the last inning and also did not walk a batter and struck out one.
The Bulldogs posted nine hits with Padilla having the lone one for extra bases. Jurden, Snow, and DeAnna Hernandez notched multi-hit performances, with Jurden and Padilla scoring two times apiece. Hernandez had the lone game with more than one RBI. Kayla Oliveira took the win, as she worked around five walks and a hit in four innings. She fanned four. Sydney Ouellete had a strikeout in her lone inning of work.
UP NEXT
Dallas concludes its three-game conference series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m. There will be video of the games but no livestats.