Softball News
Softball splits on first day of tournament
The 2007 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference softball championship tournament was played at Jesse H. Jones Field at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. The top three teams from the east and west divisions qualified for the tournament which was a double-elimination format. On Friday, April 27 there were four games played beginning at 12:00 p.m. The following day, Saturday, April 28, began at 10:00 a.m. with fives games scheduled. The championship game was played on Sunday, April 29 at 11:00 a.m. On the first day, Centre played Hendrix College in its opening match of the tournament. The early innings were quiet, as both teams had batters strike out. It was Centre in the top of the fourth that broke the tie. Centre brought in four runs to take the lead. Two runs came in off of pitching and fielding mistakes by Hendrix and while the other two runs were batted in by junior Lindsey Willett (Louisville, Ky.). Hendrix attempted to comeback in the bottom of the inning but were stopped after scoring two runs. Centre's defense remained strong the rest of the game and allowed Hendrix to pick up only one more run, in the bottom of the seventh. By then it was too late and the Colonels had secured the win, 4-3.
Senior Carolyn Besl (Maineville, Ohio) earned the win for Centre. She pitched four innings coming away with two runs allowed off four hits and five strike outs. She was replaced by freshmen Charlotte Jones (Lexington, Ky.) in the fifth. Jones pitched the rest of the game, allowing only one run off six hits.
Only three Centre players had hits throughout the game. Willett stood out as she posted a hit and drove in two runs.
The Colonels played DePauw University in the second game of their doubleheader. Centre had a good start as they brought in two runs in the opening inning. The runs came in when junior Maggie Blackburn (Lexington, Ky.) and Willett reached home after a pitching error. DePauw was quick to clean up after its mistakes though and scored four runs at its first turn at bat. Centre would be unable to produce much offense the rest of the game. DePauw's defense shutout Centre for the remainder of the game. DePauw managed to score two more runs to make the final score 6-2.
Freshmen Tyler Travis (Lexington, Ky.) started on the mound for the Colonels. She pitched four innings and allowed five runs off eight hits. She was replaced by freshmen Taylor Bottoms (Harrodsburg, Ky.) in the fifth. Bottoms allowed no hits. Junior Julia Hubbard (Louisville, Ky.) came in as relief to finish the game. Hubbard allowed one run off two hits.
The Centre batting struggled again as only two players posted hits in the game. The only two players to have hits in the game were also the two players to get home, Blackburn and Willett.
After splitting the doubleheader, Centre prepares to play three games on Saturday, April 28 with the first match against Rhodes College.
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