The Tigers continued their softball season at home, dropping their home opening series to the nationally ranked No. 14 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Texas Lutheran University. TLU remains on top of the conference with a 5-0 record while Trinity is ranked fifth at 3-2. The Tigers currently sit behind the University of the Ozarks, who are at 4-2 in the conference.
The Tigers opened their season with a seven-game road trip, culminating with a three-game sweep against bottom-feeding conference foe Austin College, outscoring them 28-2. Sophomore pitcher Megan Kriechbaum pitched a no-hitter during their Feb. 16 matchup to close out the roadtrip, striking out seven batters. Prior to the series against TLU, players voiced excitement about returning home to play a good opponent.
“We started our season [on] the road, which is kind of rough,” first-year infielder Mariana Garcia said. “But we’re getting into a groove, which is nice. We’re super pumped about this weekend.”
Garcia made her collegiate debut for the Tigers on the road, scoring five hits and five RBIs to round out her first road trip.
“With all the help of the sophomores and the upperclassmen, they definitely have helped,” Garcia said. “Everyone has just been so supportive … [The players and coaches] made me feel at home and comfortable … making it easier to play in that type of team environment.”
Returning home, however, presented a challenge for the Tigers, as the Tigers had to face a ranked opponent yet again after falling twice to No. 1 East Texas Baptist University on Feb. 8.
TLU struck first in the third inning of the first game, scoring four runs off starting sophomore pitcher Josephine Koelewyn. The Tigers responded immediately in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs due to an RBI base hit by Hannah Boudreaux, bringing in sophomore infielder Samantha Tagawa to put the Tigers’ first run on the board. Sophomore pinch hitter Sydney Boudreaux followed with an RBI double base hit; TLU allowed three more runs to score from an error made on the play, tying the game at 4-4.
The game remained tied at 4-4 for the rest of regulation, extending the game to extra innings. Texas Lutheran scored two runs at the top of the eighth inning, started by sophomore catcher Hannah Boudreaux’s error that allowed TLU senior right fielder Missy Muras to score the go-ahead run on a bunt.
Senior first baseman Faith Hernan followed up with a single, allowing Muras to score. Unable to respond, the Tigers dropped the first game of the doubleheader 4-6 with Koelewyn recording a second loss as a pitcher bringing her record to 2-2. After the game, Boudreaux commented on areas for improvement.
“I think we did pretty good about swinging at good pitches, having good at-bats and putting together productive outs,” Boudreaux said. “I think one thing we can get better at for sure is working on scoring early in the game and putting the pressure on the other team rather than the other team putting pressure on us and having to answer to what the other team puts up.”
The Tigers continued into the doubleheader’s second game with struggles on both sides of the ball. Starting pitcher Kriechbaum surrendered two runs at the top of the third inning, giving TLU a 2-0 advantage. The Bulldogs added on three runs in the sixth inning, extending their lead to 5-0. On the Tigers’ offensive side, a total of eight runners were left on base.
Trinity’s 0-5 loss against Texas Lutheran is Kreichbaum’s first loss of the season as a pitcher, bringing her record to 2-1.
“We had some great pitching today from Josie [Koelewyn],” Kriechbaum said about her teammate’s performance in the first game. “There was not that much that can be improved upon … [Just] some small details and focusing more on the offensive side and scoring some more runs early to alleviate some of that pressure.”
Kriechbaum also stated that she was pleased with the Tigers’ defensive performance.
“I thought we did really amazing,” Kriechbaum said. “[We] did a good job picking each other up and making sure everyone was taken care of and doing their job, so I can’t really complain.”
Regarding what improvements can be made throughout the week, Boudreaux noted that the team mainly needed to focus on minimizing small mistakes that add up collectively.
“Just some minor details and rookie mistakes and just making sure I’m more aware of where I am on the field,” Boudreaux said. “Especially in the game of softball, you deal with a lot of failure from game to game or inning to inning. I think it’s really important of how you respond to that when things aren’t going your way.”
The Tigers continue their first homestand of the season as they prepare for a three-game series against University of Dallas on Feb. 28, followed by a doubleheader on March 1. They will then face Howard Payne and Carnegie Mellon in doubleheaders on March 2 and March 5, respectively.
