Crusaders Suffer Consecutive Walk-Offs at Centenary on Saturday

SHREVEPORT, La. – The University of Dallas softball team dropped a pair of heartbreakers on Saturday, as Centenary College walked off both games to win the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) series.

Dallas rallied in the seventh down a run, as Julie Duenas (Houston, Texas) singled to left center to score Madison Coutts (Tampa, Fla.). The Ladies got a single to right that scored Kaylea Patridge from second to win the first contest of the day.

The Crusaders posted two runs in the fifth in game two to go on top 3-2. They could not hold on in the seventh, as the home team completed its second walk-off with two runs.

(Game 1 Information)

Team Scores: Dallas (4), Centenary (5)

Team Records: Dallas (4-10, 0-4 SCAC), Centenary (5-5, 1-0 SCAC)             

Pitcher Records: W) Gomez (3-2), L) Campo (0-2)

Centenary took the early lead with a four-run first. Four hits and five base runners created the big frame for the Ladies. Erin Lewis doubled to left to start the scoring. Taylor Mayo followed with a single to put three of the first four runners on. Jaymee Wilkinson drove in two runs to wrap up the frame.

The Crusaders chipped away getting a run back in the second, as Maggie Watts (Arcadia, La.) singled to right center to score Duenas.

Two runs came across in the fifth as Duenas hit a sacrifice fly to right, and then Liz Cordova (Oklahoma City, Okla.) singled to left to plate Mackenzie Tano (Wylie, Texas) to nip the score to 4-3. The third baseman came up with her second hit and RBI in the seventh to force the home team to have to score in its final at bat.

Cordova was perfect at the plate going 3-for-3 and had a double for UD's one hit for extra bases. Duenas and Tano also had multi-hit performances. Coutts scored twice, while leading off for the first time this season.

Watts threw four innings in the start, allowing four runs on nine hits to go with a walk. Karina Campo (Georgetown, Texas) allowed the winning run after going 2.1 innings. She walked and struck out one.

Centenary totaled one more team hit with a 10-9 edge. Mayo was the only player with multiple hits going 3-for-4 and drove in two. The top four hitters in the lineup for the Maroon and White crossed home.  

Zoe Lanier went six innings in the circle. She gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits. She struck out six and walked one. Kirstyn Gomez could not lock down the save as she surrendered the lead with a run, two hits, and two walks allowed.

(Game 2 Information)

Team Scores: Dallas (3), Centenary (4)

Team Records: Dallas (4-11, 0-5 SCAC), Centenary (6-5, 2-0 SCAC)             

Pitcher Records: W) Gomez (4-2), L) Campo (0-3)

This game the Crusaders struck first with Coutts singling to center to start the game. A sacrifice bunt by Tano moved her to scoring position. Duenas singled to center to place runners on the corners, and Cordova drilled her second double of the series and third UD hit that inning to grab the early lead.

Centenary tried to answer in the bottom of the inning, but right fielder Annabel Anderson (Midlothian, Texas) threw out Patridge trying to score from second to end the inning.

Back-to-back doubles by B. Broussard and Wilkinson knotted the score back up in the second to start things off. The Maroon and White scored another run in the third thanks to a double by Z. Lanier. An earlier error by Dallas that inning had kept the frame alive.

Lindsey Devlin (Leander, Texas) made her first start of the spring and went three innings. She worked around five hits, two runs (one earned) and walked one.

Four hits by the Crusaders in the fifth changed the momentum for them to get their second lead of the game. With two outs, a quartet of singles by hitters three through six sparked the lead change. Anderson knocked the game-tying single and Watts singled off the first baseman trying to make a big grab where the ball ricocheted into foul territory and allowed Cordova to scamper home.

Campo came in relief in the fourth and worked around a single over the next three frames. The sophomore also had struck out four along the way.

A leadoff walk to Haley Campbell brewed trouble, as she stole second and tied the game at three by coming home on a Patridge single to right. Patridge went to second on the throw. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to third, Mayo hit a sacrifice fly to center and the throw by Cordova was not in time to prevent the game-winner.

Cordova logged another three-hit game, her first two of the campaign, to go with a run and run scored. The first six hitters for UD registered a base knock, with Duenas adding a multi-hit performance. Coutts extended her team-lead in runs scored with another one. The catcher has 13 now.

Both teams notched nine hits and were charged an error. The Ladies were led by Wilkinson's 3-for-3. Lanier and Lewis added two hit games.

Ashley Hunter went the first two innings and allowed a run on three hits. Gomez finished the last five innings, giving up a pair of runs on six hits.

Dallas has dropped its last four head-to-head meetings with the Ladies at the Centenary Softball Complex by a run. Three of those games have been walk-offs.

UP NEXT

Dallas concludes the three-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m.