Softball won all three games in their April 18-19 home series against Sewanee, maintaining their first-place spot in the SAA. The Tigers took game one on April 18 by a score of 9-1 and won game two 10-1 on the same day. Trinity completed the sweep on April 19, winning 9-0. , won all three games in five innings. They won by enough for the run-rule to apply in every game.
Game One
Both offenses started slow in game one of the series, with neither team scoring after two innings. That changed in the third inning when junior catcher Hannah Boudreaux grounded out to bring in the game’s first run. Things got worse on the play for Sewanee when junior outfielder Ella Whitacre scored on a throwing error to make it 2-0.
Trinity added two more runs in the fourth inning, but then pulled away in the fifth. Senior shortstop Anglea Baltzell drove in the inning’s first run with a double, and scored on a two-run single from junior second baseman Samantha Tagawa to make the score 7-1. Senior outfielder Hayden Del Toro capped off a five-run inning by scoring on a wild pitch, giving Trinity the run-rule victory.
“We’re a very good team offensively,” Whitacre said. “Something we’ve prioritized every day this season, especially in practice, has been attacking good pitches and hitting the ball hard. That might sound simple, but when you’ve been mechanically working on those swings so much, you trust your swing.”
The winning pitcher, junior Josephine Koelewyn, held Sewanee’s offense off the scoreboard after allowing her only earned run in the top of the third. Overall, Koelewyn threw five innings and only allowed two hits. She now holds a record of 14-4 on the season.
Game Two
The second game of the series saw each team score a run in the first inning. After Sewanee took a 1-0 lead — their first of the series — Trinity answered with two runs off a double from Koelewyn, who was now batting as the designated player. Trinity added four more runs in the second inning, and took a commanding 6-1 lead. Two of those runs were brought in by senior infielder Carsyn Lee’s single to left field. Lee struck again in the third inning, driving in two more RBIs on a base hit to right field with the bases loaded. A third run scored from a Sewanee throwing error to make the game 9-1. To end the game, Lee scored on a groundout from Tagawa, giving Trinity a 10-1 victory and clinching the series victory.
“You have that mindset of, ‘My teammate did their job. Now I’m going to do mine for them,’” Whitacre said. “If there’s a runner in scoring position, we’re thinking about making contact and passing the bat to the next teammate.”
Junior pitcher Megan Kriechbaum earned her seventh win of the year in the circle by pitching four innings and only allowing one run. Junior pitcher Cameron Bishop also threw a scoreless inning in relief.
Game Three
As hot as the Tigers’ bats had been in the previous two games, they found the most success in the first inning of game three. The scoring started with a double to left-center field from Tagawa that brought in two runs. As the inning continued and more batters reached, senior pitcher and outfielder Jordan Arce came up to the plate and didn’t miss.
On a 1-2 pitch, Arce lifted the ball to deep right field and over the right fielder’s head. The ball rolled all the way to the wall and brought in Lee and Tagawa to score. Arce didn’t stop there, rounding second and third before sprinting all the way back home for an inside-the-park home run.
“I didn’t expect it to turn into what it did,” Arce said. “As I rounded second, I saw coach Wittenauer waving me on to go four, and I was probably laughing around the bases because I don’t know how many people can say they’ve hit an inside-the-park-home run.”
A four-run third inning extended Trinity’s lead to 9-0. That would be the final score and result in their third run-rule win of the series. On top of hitting the inside-the-park home run, Arce also pitched the shutout. She threw all five innings, allowed one hit, struck out nine batters and walked one. She didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth and final inning.
“I knew I was throwing a perfect game going into the fifth inning, but I wasn’t focused on that stats,” Arce said. “Coach Wittenauer told us before the game we wanted them to score zero and my job was to make sure that happened.”
The series sweep brings Trinity’s record to 23-8-1 and their SAA record to 9-3. They will stay home next week to face Millsaps College for a three game series on April 25-26.
