Softball's Incredible Season ends against Southwestern on Saturday
KERRVILLE, Texas – The University of Dallas softball team (20-16) concluded the 2015 campaign with an 8-6 final versus Southwestern University (18-20) on Saturday.
The elimination game between No.3-Seeded Dallas and No.4-Seeded Southwestern resulted in the Navy and White finishing the campaign with a program-record 20 wins overall to tie the 2010 squad. UD also notched a school-most 13 victories with Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) action to set another feat in its fourth year in the league.
Southwestern picked up its second win in the SCAC Tournament to advance to the next elimination game against host school, No.6-Seeded Schreiner University. The Pirates were topped 5-3 to end their season.
In the early morning action, Southwestern took advantage of three errors to gain a lead by that margin, and would never trail in the rest of the way. The trio of miscues would occur in the third inning, as Dallas made eight total in the contest.
The Lady Crusaders gave a valiant effort after falling behind five in the fourth inning. Dallas posted its first runs on the board as a pair of doubles from junior Erin Begle (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Ciara Stewart (Crocket, Texas) got an offense with one hit through the opening juncture of that frame rolling.
Stewart, who pinch hit and remained in the game at first base, would clobber two big knocks off the bench for the Navy and White, and drove in a season-best three runners. Her other two ribbies occurred in the fifth inning to bring home Begle and senior Taylor Garcia (Pflugerville, Texas). Stewart's single to center capped a four-run frame and nipped SU's largest lead of the game from six runs to 8-6.
That tally reflected the final score, as Dallas was unable to muster anything in the final two trips to the plate. The Black and Gold managed to score at least two runs in the third through fifth innings, with a three-run fifth opening up the affair.
Stewart and sophomore Allison Kotlar (Edna, Texas) posted two-hit performances with Kotlar hustling out a triple for the first hit of the matchup. Freshman Madison Goforth (Tyler, Texas), sophomore Lyda Tesauro (Hollywood, Fla.), Garcia, Begle, and Stewart rounded out the extra-base knocks with doubles.
Southwestern placed five players in the multi-hit category, as 10 of the squad's 11 knocks came from this group. Within the unit were: Michele Ramos, Marissa Irvin, Berkeley Bacon, Ashleigh Scott, and Ally Holland. Ramos and Irvin paced the run production with a pair of RBIs apiece.
Cozette Palmer (12-12) earned the win with 6.1 innings tossed. She left in the fourth and re-entered in the fifth to finish the triumph. Her final line was three runs, six hits, a walk, and seven punch outs.
For UD, sophomore Katie Lee (19-12) was saddled with the loss going all seven innings. She allowed eight runs (four earned) on 11 hits, while walking two to match her strikeout total. The two punch outs helped the righty eclipse the century mark for strikeouts on the campaign with 101. Her amount also ranks on the top leaderboard within the SCAC.
Other record breakers for the Lady Crusaders were sophomore Avery Finch (Jamul, Calif.) and Garcia. Finch increased her conference and team-lead with 30 stolen bases. The total also increases her personal and program-record this season. Garcia wraps up her career-most, 40 RBI year with one in the finale to set the new Dallas softball season individual record. Over her four campaigns, the catcher notched 104 ribbies, as she eclipsed the century mark on Apr. 10 versus Schreiner University.