This past Saturday and Sunday, the softball team hit the field and played two doubleheaders against Centenary College. After severe humidity and questionable calls by the umpires, the Tigers were defeated both days by the Louisiana college. The second day, they lost 7-4 and 3-2 with ten hits, five errors in the first game and nine hits, one error in the second.
“I think we played decent this weekend,” sophomore second baseman Hailey Wilson said. “I’m proud of how well we fought through the adversity we faced. We had a few players get hurt over the past week, and I believe that set us back a bit. Despite these challenges, we played well.”
After losing the first day, the Tigers used their defeat to push them to play better the next day. Although there was improvement, they were still unable to take home a win. In the third game, Centenary started off with two runs in the first inning. In the bottom of second inning, senior second baseman Hillary Hoffman made it to first on an error and then moved to second base off of first-year Cameron Lavergne’s bunt. Sophomore first baseman Emily Reed hit a single down the right side, sending Hoffman home to score their first run of the day.
In the bottom of the third inning, sophomore third baseman Rylie Goldwait and junior shortstop Rebecca Berreth scored a pair of runs. Goldwait reached first base on a fielding error and then stole second. Berreth hit a double, allowing Goldwait to score. Berreth advanced to third off of sophomore catcher Siera Spurlock’s ground ball and then crossed home plate after sophomore outfielder Devon Potter’s single. Centenary scored one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. The Tigers were unable to come back. The game ended 5-3 with Centenary having eleven hits, four errors and Trinity with six hits, two errors.
“Even though the games didn’t end like how we would’ve liked, our team still played with high intensity and that’s all you can ask for, ” junior outfielder Sara McCarty said. “We are still continuing to work hard in practice to prepare us for our next series. We play a non-conference game next, so that will be the time to utilize what we have been working on to piece it all together for our next conference series.”
To start off the fourth game, both teams kept each other from scoring until the top of the third inning. Centenary scored three runs off of senior Katie Glomb. The Tigers finally scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Wilson hit a double and later advanced to third base off of first-year third baseman Adrienne Edwards hit. Senior outfielder Mackenzie Hill hit a single to the left side, allowing Wilson to cross home plate.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, they were still down by two runs. Sophomore catcher Stephanie Crumrine lead off the inning with a groundout. Wilson walked, moving to third base off of Lavergne’s hit, plus an error by the right fielder. Reed then knocked Wilson in with a single. Unfortunately, the next two batters were outs, and the game ended 3-2 with both teams having six hits and one error.
“I think a major thing we learned this weekend was that we have it in us,” Glomb said. “We have it in us to win. We just need to start early and be in attack mode all game and never let up our intensity.”
