Softball allowed Game One Walk-Off Saturday; Claimed Game Two for Split
KERRVILLE, Texas – The University of Dallas softball team split for the second day of a four-game series at Schreiner University. The teams went 2-2 in the series with the Lady Crusaders falling 5-4 in game one and prevailing 6-3 in the finale.
GAME ONE INFORMATION
Team Scores: University of Dallas (4), Schreiner University (5)
Team Records: Dallas (18-21, 12-11 SCAC), Schreiner (9-28, 7-16 SCAC)
Pitcher Records: W) Vrana (6-16), L) Lee (13-13)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lady Crusaders fell behind 1-0 after one inning, but would scratch a run from the third through sixth innings. Schreiner made a charge in the latter point of the contest, scoring four of its five runs from the fifth inning on. This included knotting the game 4-4 in the Mountaineers' sixth. It was an error by UD's third baseman that allowed Koral Riggs to score the game-winning run on a Daneece Stewart ball put in play. This marked the sixth time Dallas had allowed a walk-off this campaign.
The Mountaineers took an early lead by smacking three hits in the first inning. The second one by Alyssa Reyes drove in Samantha Cordon, who doubled two batters earlier.
Dallas tallied the next three runs of the game to claim a 3-1 edge. In the third, junior Allison Kotlar (Edna, Texas) doubled to bring home freshman Samantha Laberge (Round Rock, Texas). Laberge reached on a one-out single. In the fourth, freshman Stephanie Cervantes (Temecula, Calif.) clobbered her second home run this week to put the Lady Crusaders in front for the first time that day. Kotlar singled the next inning as freshman Samantha Bratsch (The Woodlands, Texas) scored after pinch running.
Schreiner's Sydney Christopher nipped the guests' lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single. Dallas responded with senior Erin Begle (Houston, Texas) hammering her fifth homer of the season. The home team erased the narrow gap on an Alyssa Maki double that scored two runners in the bottom of the sixth. This set the stage for Stewart's walk-off.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Dallas was outhit 11-7. The Mountaineers posted seven of their total hits from the fifth inning on.
- Kotlar was the lone UD player with multiple hits. She also had the two ribbies that did not come from the home runs.
- Begle's home run gave the UD softball program 18, which set a new record previously held by the 2014 squad.
- Begle extended her team-lead in long balls and has four of her five on the road. Cervantes logged her third homer of her rookie career.
- Freshman Katie Antigua (Elk Grove, Calif.) doubled to round out the final UD extra-base hit.
- The Lady Crusaders committed 3 errors compared to none by SU.
- Junior Katie Lee was saddled in the loss. She threw 6.0 innings and allowed five runs (3 earned) on 11 hits, while walking two and striking out two.
- A quartet of Mountaineers had two-hit games: Nichole Schoenherr, Maki, Cordon, and Reyes. That same group in addition to Stewart doubled for five of SU's extra-base hits.
- Jessica Vrana earned the win, allowing four runs on seven hits in a complete game. She struck out four.
GAME TWO INFORMATION
Team Scores: University of Dallas (6), Schreiner University (3)
Team Records: Dallas (19-21, 13-11 SCAC), Schreiner (9-29, 7-17 SCAC)
Pitcher Records: W) Lee (14-13), L) Vrana (6-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a back-and-forth game two on Saturday, with the Lady Crusaders going up 4-2 in the fifth, and adding some key insurance runs in the seventh to complete their third split on the week. Dallas went 3-0 in the second games of all its twinbills.
Antigua doubled for the second game that afternoon and scored Begle who led off the second inning with a walk. Schreiner evened the contest in the bottom of the frame. Stewart punched the third straight one-out single, and brought in Reyes.
The Mountaineers took their lone advantage of game two in the third, as Christopher drove in Riggs who had advanced to third on a wild pitch during the at-bat. Dallas countered in the next half inning with a run. The game-tier was a sacrifice flyout by Cervantes to score junior Lyda Tesauro (Hollywood, Fl.). Tesauro had started the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a flyout by Begle.
In the fifth, junior Avery Finch (Jamul, Calif.) singled Laberge and freshman Melanie Savala (Bryan, Texas) to put the Lady Crusaders in front for good, with a 4-2 lead. Schreiner cut the margin to 4-3 as Cordon scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the fifth.
With a narrow advantage, Lee tossed the final 2.2 innings and worked around trouble in the sixth and seventh inning. After allowed two players on the home side reach via a single and hit by pitch, respectively, Lee got Cordon to loft a pop up to third. Dallas benefitted from three SU miscues to pull away. In the final at-bat for Schreiner, Lindsey Martinez stifled potential momentum by getting caught stealing at third for the second out of the frame. Two singles followed after that, but Lee closed the triumph out with the game-tying run grounding out.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Dallas was outhit 15-6, but the Mountaineers stranded 11 baserunners.
- Antigua (2-for-3) picked up a multi-hit game. She and Tesauro doubled for the extra-base knocks.
- Kotlar had the team's lone stolen base for second straight game that day.
- Freshman Roma Thornton (Wharton, Texas) drove in the final run of the game in the seventh. Five different Lady Crusaders had an RBI apiece. Cervantes has an RBI in four of last five games played.
- Freshman Paige Parks (Cedar Park, Texas) started and went 4.1 innings. She allowed three runs (2 earned) on 11 hits. Lee pitched the final 2.2 innings and both arms each recorded a strikeout with no walks given out.
- All 15 hits for Schreiner were singles. Christopher and Vrana each posted 3-for-4 games. Cordon (2-for-4) and Stewart (2-for-4) also had multiple hit performances.
- Martinez did record a stolen base before being caught a play later.
- Vrana was the losing pitcher going seven innings. She allowed three earned runs on six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.
SCAC TOURNAMENT NEXT
Dallas has concluded the regular season. The squad matched last season's highest win total (13) since joining the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) five years ago. It is also the second straight year head coach Beth Krysiak's Lady Crusaders have earned the number three seed in the league.
It will be a rematch next Friday, April 22, as these same two programs are on the softball diamond at 2 p.m. for the first round. Trinity University is the site of the SCAC Championship in San Antonio, Texas. More information will be released this week, follow on udallasathletics.com or @UDallasSports on Twitter.