Softball Recap (Week 7) - Around the SCAC

Austin College fell in each of its four conference games at Trinity over the weekend, falling 5-2 in game one and 3-2 on a walkoff in game two, before being swept 8-0 and 9-0 in games three and four on Saturday. Briana Hernandez had a strong weekend at the plate, hitting .444 with her first homer of the season to lead the ‘Roos offensively and Taylor Steelman had a double and an RBI on the weekend. Victoria Herrera had a 2.62 ERA despite going 0-2, surrendering only four earned runs and 11 overall in 10.2 innings of work over two appearances. Herrera’s two strikeouts pushed her to 51 for the year, putting her in the top five for single season strikeout totals in program history. 

Centenary went 1-3 this weekend at Southwestern. The Ladies captured the first win, 2-1, of the series in nine innings over the Pirates. Whitney Patterson led the Ladies with five hits over the four games including the game-winner in the opening contest of the series. Lynsi Unruh took the win in the circle, but finished with a 1-2 record on the weekend. Centenary returns to action on Wednesday, march 26 as the Ladies host Westminster in a doubleheader at 4 p.m.

Dallas went 0-6 at home on the week, including 0-4 in conference action. On Tuesday, in Irving, Texas, the Lady Crusaders were bested 6-5 (F/7) and then 11-0 (F/5) by the University of Texas-Dallas. On Friday, head coach Beth Krysiak’s squad fell 13-0 (F/5) and then 5-0 (F/7) to Texas Lutheran. On Saturday, the navy and white lost 6-3 (F/7) and then 11-1 (F/5) to the Bulldogs. Dallas heads to Kerrville, Texas, for a four-game series this week versus Schreiner -- Saturday (1 p.m. DH; 2x7) and Sunday (12 p.m. DH; 2x7).

Schreiner faced off at home against non- conference opponent Puget Sound in a Double-header on Friday. The result was a split with the Mountaineers taking the second game 5-2. Freshmen pitcher, Destiny Rodriguez pitched every inning on Friday, allowing only 4 earned runs and striking out eight batters. Freshmen sisters, Nicole and Victoria Schoenherr paced the team with a combined 4 hits and 3 runs and RBI in the split. The Mountaineers resume SCAC play on Saturday at home against the University of Dallas at 1pm.

Southwestern returned to the field on Saturday to face Centenary College for a four game home series. Southwestern was stunned in game one as they struggled offensively, falling 2-1 in nine innings, before returning to the team of old to win 12-4 in six innings. On day two, first-year pitcher Nicole Gibbs closed out a stellar afternoon in the circle tossing the first no-hitter in the Southwestern University softball team’s program history with an 8-1 win over Centenary after picking up a 9-0 win in game one. As a team, Southwestern hit .420 over the weekend while holding Centenary to .140. The Pirates have a make-up double header on Tuesday against Concordia at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock before having an off weekend from conference play. 

Texas Lutheran ran its winning streak to 13 games this week with two non-conference home wins against Puget Sound and a four-game road sweep of Dallas. The series sweep of the Crusaders also improved the Bulldogs’ SCAC record to 10-0. The Bulldogs outhit their opponents 63-28 and outscored them 55-10 in the six games. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs defeated Puget Sound 10-1 and 10-5 in a doubleheader home sweep. Over the weekend, they continued their excellent start to conference play, beating Dallas 13-0, 5-0, 6-3 and 11-1 in the four games. On Friday, TLU turned in a complete performance on Friday with both the offense and pitching clicking big time. The Bulldogs outhit Dallas 17-3, racked up five extra-base hits compared to none for the Crusaders and also struck out 10 batters compared to just two for Dallas.

Trinity rattled off six straight wins over the past week, finishing with a four-game SCAC series sweep against Austin College. The Tigers also swept a Wednesday doubleheader from the University of Puget Sound.Chrissy Armstrong moved into the top 10 in school history in career hits, reaching 123 by weekend’s end.  Armstrong ties Lee Smith (2006-09) on the all-time Tiger list, needing 10 more to move into a tie for ninth.  She also reached the top 10 in runs scored (69) and at-bats (410) for a career. Trinity faces a busy schedule this week, playing a total of eight games – including four road games at Texas Lutheran, who is currently leading the SCAC standings.  The Tigers will also host Pacific Lutheran University on Wednesday, preceded by a matchup against 10th-ranked Linfield on Tuesday night.

To view the entire SCAC Fast Pitch Weekly for week seven, click here.