(Portions of this story courtesy of Southwestern University)
SEGUIN, Texas - No. 3 seed Southwestern University got runs in the fifth and sixth inning and rode the arm of freshman Cozette Palmer to a 2-1 victory over the University of Dallas in the second game of the 2014 SCAC Softball Championships. Box Score | Official Tournament Website | Angela Froboese (SU) Postgame Interview | Cozette Palmer (SU) Postgame Interview
It was a relatively quiet start to the game as Southwestern was held to just one hit in the first four innings of play while Dallas had three hits. Junior Ashleigh Scott's stand-up triple to right field in the fifth brought home senior Karen Ramirez to break the stalemate and give Southwestern a 1-0 lead through the fifth.
Palmer was outstanding early as she scattered three hits in the first five innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
Dallas threatened in response to the Pirate run in the top of the sixth, advancing a runner to second on a passed ball with two outs. Junior Taylor Garcia drew a walk to keep the rally alive and brought up freshman Alex Compte, who leads the SCAC in homeruns. Palmer regrouped and posted a huge strikeout to end the inning and retain the lead for the Pirates.
Southwestern manufactured another run in the bottom of the sixth as sophomore Cristina Crandall's RBI infield single brought home sophomore Caroline Young to give Southwestern a 2-0 lead heading into the final inning.
Dallas refused to go quietly however, as they moved runners into scoring position, second and third, with two outs in the top of the seventh. A wild pitch scored one and advanced the tying run to third base, but Palmer calmly collected her fifth strikeout of the day to seal the complete game win.
Freshman Lyda Tesauro of Dallas was the only player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 while three other Crusaders collected one hit. Six Pirates posted hits in the game with none collecting more than one.
Palmer earned her seventh win of the season while her counterpart, freshman Katherine Lee, took the loss despite an outstanding effort, pitching six complete inning and allowed two earned run on six hits.
