After a 2024 season where Trinity softball exceeded all expectations with 31 wins, the Tigers’ 2025 season opened on the road Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 against LeTourneau University and defending Division III national champions East Texas Baptist University.
The Tigers swept LeTourneau University in their season-opening series, taking both games 5-3 and 10-4. In their second series against East Texas Baptist University, the Tigers dropped both games, 2-11 and 2-7. The 8-run mercy rule took effect, ending the former game after five innings.
Heading into the roadtrip, the Tigers were 4-4 against LeTourneau and 2-12 against East Texas Baptist in their previous matchups. However, head coach Bailey Wittenauer dismissed the unfavorable odds.
“All we have to do is make sure we show up and do our jobs, and we know we have a chance to win,” Wittenauer said. “Something that’s extremely special about this team this year is that we truly know every game we play we actually have the chance to win, and I think we proved that last year.”
Additionally, Wittenauer explained that the balance between home and away games changes year-to-year, and that this year softball has more road games.
“I think being on the road to start the season is a good thing,” Wittenauer said. “We get to hit first when we’re on the road. I think this group is definitely ready. They’re hungry. We’ve had a good couple weeks of practice, we’re prepared and we’re excited to face LeTourneau for our first games of the season.”
In their first series against LeTourneau on Feb. 7, nine different batters provided at least one RBI. This aided the Tigers significantly, as they swept their first series of the season, winning the first game 5-3 and the next 10-4. Sophomore pitchers Josephine Koelewyn and Megan Kriechbaum were named the winning pitchers.
“I feel like we executed that first day really well,” senior outfielder and designated hitter Leah Gonzalez said. “Half the battle is having your own personal plan before you get into the box. [My plan] was … to move my runners, even if that meant getting myself out. … As a team, our plan was to strike first, especially since we … get to hit first.”
Sophomore second basewoman Samantha Tagawa logged four hits and one RBI in the series against LeTourneau.
“After the first series, I thought we did a pretty good job making adjustments at the plate,” Tagawa said. “We faced some pitchers that [were] difficult to make adjustments to, but our team did a really good job with that.”
Despite the strong start to the weekend, the offense stalled during their series against East Texas Baptist the following day, being held to only four runs total over both games to ETBU’s 18. In the first game of the series, Gonzalez produced the Tigers’ only two runs in their 2-7 loss.
“We got a lot done at the plate,” Gonzalez said. “It just wasn’t falling our way. Their fielders are good; they are national champs for a reason. But moving forward, we are definitely staying with the same aggressive mentality.”
The pitchers have also struggled during their outing against East Texas Baptist, unable to find momentum on the mound. In the first game, four different pitchers surrendered 11 runs in their 2-11 loss.
In the second game of the doubleheader, starting junior pitcher Jordan Arce gave up three earned runs in the first inning. A pitching change was then made to Heather Nugent, who then gave up four earned runs. Koelewyn then took the helm on the mound in the third inning and finished out the first game. Koelewyn was named the losing pitcher, ending the first half of the road trip with a 1-1 record.
“Just a couple of things to clean up here and there [defensively], working on the speed of the game,” Tagawa said.
According to her, the Tigers aim to mentally reset as they look ahead to face Austin College.
“We have this thing called 0-0 Mondays,” Tagawa said. “It basically means we start with a clean slate, no matter what happened the past weekend. That’s our whole mindset going into this week of practices and our first games against Austin College for our first conference games.”
The Tigers will finish up their first road trip of the season with a three-game series against Austin College on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16.
