Softball Recap (Week 6) - Around the SCAC

It was a busy week for Austin College as they played 10 games in all, getting swept in a four game series against Texas Lutheran before bouncing back with a doubleheader sweep of Rust College and finishing the weekend splitting a four game series with Schreiner to go 4-6 overall on the week. Sophia Hernandez made Austin College history against Rust, pitching the first perfect game in program history and setting an Austin College softball record with 14 strikeouts. Hernandez was outstanding all week, picking up a pair of wins with a 2.43 earned-run-average and striking out 22 batters in 31.2 innings of work. Hernandez also had a home run and drove in nine RBI for the week. Briana Hernandez batted .481 with three doubles and three RBI, and Lacy Price hit .333 with two homers and eight RBI for the ‘Roos. Mary Whitworth also added two homers in the final game of the week against Schreiner, including a three run shot that served as a walk-off in the 13-3 win over the Mountaineers. 

Centenary dropped a doubleheader against Millsaps on Wednesday afternoon despite a rally in the sixth inning of the second game. The Ladies (1-13) fell 14-5 in the second outing after dropping a 12-2 decision in the opener. Cadie Hancock paced the Maroon and White at the dish collecting three hits for the twinbill including a multiple effort in the second game. Hannah Hastie added a pair of hits for the doubleheader and drove in a run in the first outing. The Ladies’ starting pitching struggled with the Majors bats as Perilloux and Patterson each last just a third of an inning the starts. Perilloux allowed four runs on five hits in the opener with Patterson surrendering four runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Lynsi Unruh totaled 7.1 innings in the double dip. Centenary returns to action on Saturday, March 22 as the Ladies travel to Southwestern University for a four-game series.

Dallas went 3-3 on the week at home. On Tuesday, in Irving, Texas, head coach Beth Krysiak’s squad defeated Rust College-Miss., 13-0 (F/5), before winning as a result of forfeiture in game two of the doubleheader (DH). On Friday, at Crusader Field, the navy and white fell to Trinity, 15-1 (F/6), and then lost 5-3 (F/7) in the day cap. On Saturday, the Lady Crusaders were bested 15-3 (F/7), but won the series finale, 2-1 (F/7). Dallas hosts the University of Texas-Dallas on Tuesday in a 4 p.m. DH. Texas Lutheran comes to town for games later this week -- Friday (5 p.m. DH) and Saturday (12 p.m. DH).

Schreiner stayed active over the break by competing in eight games over five days. The Mountaineers were able to split those eigh games with a sweep of Sul Ross State and a series split against conference foe Austin College. The Mountaineers continue to be led by freshman pitcher Destiny Rodriguez and contributions from senior Victoria Alcozer, who went 5 for 13 on the weekend.  Also, sophomore Holly Molenaar also contributed at the plate going 4 for 13 and stolen base Kelsey Schwind went 3 for 7 as the DP in two games. Schreiner will get a bit of breather as they faceoff at home against non- conference Puget Sound in a Double-header on Friday at 3pm and do not play again until the following Saturday against University of Dallas. 

Southwestern remained in SCAC conference action this week, facing Texas Lutheran University for a four game series. Friday, the Pirates got off to a slow start in game one while TLU exploded for early runs, handing SU a10-4 loss. Southwestern struck first in game one, but TLU posted two homeruns late in the game to win 4-1 over the Pirates. After rain entered Central Texas the Saturday double-header was cancelled. Southwestern moves to 5-12-1 on the year and 2-4 in the SCAC. They return to action this weekend at home, opening a four game series against Centenary College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Texas Lutheran kicked off its inaugural SCAC season in dominant fashion, winning all six conference games it played this week, including a four-game home sweep of Austin College and a road doubleheader sweep over Southwestern. The Bulldogs outscored the ‘Roos 35-2 in the four games and even tallied a perfect game tossed by Taylor Grissom in one of them. The Bulldogs carried the momentum from that dominant performance against Austin College onto the road and defeated Southwestern 10-6 and 4-1 in a Friday doubleheader. Saturday’s two games were rained out.

Trinity went 3-3 overall last week, highlighted by a 3-1 weekend to open SCAC play at the University of Dallas. The Tigers faced off against sixth-ranked East Texas Baptist on Wednesday, falling 13-2 and 2-1 in the doubleheader.  Trinity then opened the SCAC series at Dallas with a sweep, winning 15-1 and 5-3 on Friday afternoon.  The Tigers wrapped up the series with a Saturday split, winning 15-3, but falling 2-1 in the series finale. Brooke Sanchez went 5-5 in the opening game of the Dallas series, tying a school record for hits in a game.  She also had five hits against Austin College last season, and she is one of just four players to record five hits in a game for the Tigers. Caitlynn Dykes is second in school history for career batting average (.381) by a slim margin, trailing former Tiger coach Nicole Dickson’s .382 career average.  Sanchez is ranked seventh all-time with her .356 career batting average.  Kaci Wellik picked up her 100th career strikeout over the weekend, becoming the 10th Trinity player to reach the century mark. The Tigers return home to open a stretch of 10 consecutive home games, beginning with six games this week.  Trinity faces the University of Puget Sound in a doubleheader on Wednesday evening, then will take on Austin College in a four-game SCAC series on Friday and Saturday. 

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