Shreveport- The Centenary softball team lost a heartbreaker on Sunday afternoon as the Ladies fell 2-1 in eight innings to the Trinity University Tigers in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest on Senior Day at the Centenary Softball Complex.
The Ladies (13-25, 8-13 SCAC) lost for the 10th-straight time and finished the season 9-9 at home. The Tigers improved to 29-11 and 17-4 in league play and completed the series sweep after taking both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, 5-2 in game one and 8-7 in game two.
Centenary honored its 2024 senior class – IF Mackenzie Clark (Upland, Calif.), RF Mackenzie Cox (Alexandria, La.), and 1B Isabelle Dominguez (Newark, Calif.) in a postgame ceremony.
The Ladies finished with five hits, drew five walks, only struck out three times, left 11 on base, and made one error. The Tigers had nine hits, drew three walks, struck out five times, left eight on base, and made two errors. The game was scoreless through the first three innings and then each team pushed across a run in the fourth and went into extra innings as the Tigers scored the winning run in the top of the eighth.
Sophomore P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.) started in the circle for the Ladies and received a no-decision as she lasted 3.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. She faced 13 batters and threw 52 pitches – 37 for strikes. Junior LHP Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.) came in for Myers and took the loss in relief to fall to 2-4 on the season. She went 4.2 innings and allowed one earned run and five hits with three BB and two K's. She faced 22 batters and threw 82 pitches – 47 for strikes.
Josephine Koelewyn started in the circle for the Tigers and also received a no-decision as she went 4.1 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits with a BB and no K's and hit one batter. She faced 20 batters and threw 78 pitches – 50 for strikes. Jordan Arce (14-5) came in for Koelewyn and picked up the win as she worked three scoreless innings with a hit, three BB and three K's. She faced 13 batters and threw 50 pitches (24 strikes). Heather Nugent pitched the final 0.2 innings and picked up her third save of the season as she walked one, facing three batters and throwing four pitches – three for strikes.
Both teams went quietly in the first inning and Myers allowed a single in the second but struck out a pair. In the bottom of the second, sophomore DP Abigail Hodgson (Georgetown, Texas) doubled to lead off the inning and reached third when sophomore 2B Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) reached on an error to put runners at the corners with just one out. Crow then stole second, but Koelewyn got a pair of groundouts to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
Trinity CF Sydney Watson led off the fourth with a single and went to second on a groundout. 1B Jordyn Williams then singled to put runners at the corners. Shepherd entered the game for Myers and Koelewyn helped herself with a sacrifice fly to center, as Watson slid in safely at home plate, just ahead of a strong throw from senior CF Mallory Stout (Trinity, Texas) to sophomore C Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) for a 1-0 lead. Shepherd then retired LF Marina Delaluna on a lineout to end the inning.
Thrasher grounded out to begin the bottom of the fourth but Hodgson followed with a single and freshman Noelle Sandmann (Huntsville, Texas) pinch ran for her. Dominguez flew out for the second out of the inning but Crow singled to left and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Stout then delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to score Sandmann and tie the game at 1-1. Stout then stole second but Koelewyn retired sophomore 3B Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.) on a groundout to end the inning.
The Tigers stranded a pair in the top of the fifth and the Ladies put two on with one out and Arce came in for Koelewyn. She promptly struck out both Thrasher and Hodgson swinging to end the inning and keep the game tied. Each team went quietly in the sixth as the game moved to the seventh still knotted at 1-1.
Trinity 3B Peyton Bowser reached on an error to start the inning but Shepherd struck out pinch-hitter Diamond Elizondo swinging for a big first out. Sydney Boudreaux then delivered a pinch-hit single to put runners at first and second. Shepherd walked 2B Samantha Tagawa to load the bases but Shepherd got Watson to pop out to first and struck out Hannah Boudreaux swinging to end the inning to the delight of the crowd.
Dawson drew a leadoff walk to start the seventh and junior Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.) came in to pinch hit for freshman LF Janae Bland (Livingston, Texas) as sophomore River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.) was called on to pinch-run for Dawson. Rivero laid down a bunt and Arce fielded it quickly and threw to second base to get a hustling Boultinghouse for the force out as Rivero reached first. Bland re-entered to run for Rivero and Cox doubled over the head of Delaluna in left to put runners at second and third with only one out as the crowd was buzzing in anticipation of a potential walk off win on Senior Day. Arce, though, got Stokes on a pop out to SS and retired Thrasher on a liner to second to escape the game and keep the game tied.
Williams singled up the middle to start the top of the eighth and Arce reached on a bunt single to put two on with no outs. Delaluna then laid a bunt down and also reached to load the bases with no one out as Shepherd and the Ladies were in a jam. Bowser popped to Stokes at SS for the first out and Leah Gonzalez was called on to pinch hit for Ella Whitacre. Gonzalez delivered a sacrifice fly to center to score Williams for the go-ahead run, but the umpires determined that Delaluna left first base early attempting to tag up and was called out as the inning ended, but Williams' run counted as the Tigers took the 2-1 lead.
Hodgson led off the bottom of the eight and worked a walk and sophomore Brooke Sandefur (Denham Springs, La.) pinch-ran for her. Arce struck out Dominguez swinging for the first out and Crow worked a walk. Trinity then went to the bullpen as Nugent was called on to save it for Arce. Stout patiently drew a walk to load the bases with just one out. Nugent, though, got Dawson on a pop out and Bland flied out to left to end the inning and the game.
Hodgson finished 2-3 with a double and a walk, Cox was 1-4 with a double and a stolen base, Stout was 1-3 with an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base, and Crow finished 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Williams and Arce each had two hits for the Tigers.
The Ladies finished fifth in the conference standings and will now head to Seguin, Texas for next weekend's SCAC Tournament, a double-elimination event, hosted by Texas Lutheran University. The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the tournament. The official tournament bracket will be released this evening or Monday.
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.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
