Georgetown, TX - Centre Softball looked to continue its march towards a possible SAA Tournament berth on Saturday with a doubleheader at Southwestern. The Colonels got solid pitching in both games but the Pirates did as well as Southwestern won both games.
Game 1: Southwestern 4, Centre 2
Ashley Howard got the ball for the opener and faced trouble immediately. The Pirates put the first two batters on. A moment later, a single got Southwestern its first run. A two-run double followed as the Pirates struck for three in the inning to grab the immediate lead. Centre had a chance to respond in the top of the 2nd.
Morgan Tabor doubled to right to start. A bloop single from
Kennedy Caudill followed.
Jada Challiss dropped a sac bunt to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out.
Cheney Floyd captialized with a single up the middle to score Tabor and get the Colonels on the board. With
Baylee Estes at the plate, Centre sent
Cheney Floyd to second. As that happened, Caudill broke for home but was tagged out at the plate for the second out. A fielder's choice ended the inning with two on.
Southwestern led off the bottom of the 2nd with a single to center. After a fielder's choice and steal, the Pirates had a runner at 2nd with only 1 out. Howard was able to fight back and retire the side unscathed and keep the deficit at 3-1. After a quiet 3rd, Centre looked to get closer in the 4th.
Morgan Tabor reached via an error to lead off the inning, but the rally was stymied by an ensuing 6-4-3 double play.
Centre would threaten once more in the 6th.
Emily Lammers drew a leadoff walk and was lifted at 1st for
Madison Skibo. Tabor followed with a four-pitch walk and would give away to
Ava Petrino at 1st. A wild pitch moved Skibo to 3rd and Petrino to 2nd with no outs.
Kennedy Caudill then singled to short to score Skibo, but Caudill was caught trying to get to 2nd for the first out. The next 2 batters went down on strikes to end the inning. Southwestern added a run in the bottom of the 6th off
Kennedy Caudill to take the opener.
Game 2: Southwestern 1, Centre 0
Ashley Howard took the loss in game 1 but would get the ball again for game 2. The Pirates grabbed another 1st inning lead with three straight 1-out singles to take a 1-0 lead after 1. Centre went down in order in each of the first 2 innings. It would take until the top of the 3rd before the Colonels got their first runner thanks to a 1-out single from
Cheney Floyd. A sac bunt followed but Floyd would be stranded at second to retire the side. The Pirates looked to extend their lead in the bottom of the 3rd. With 1 out, the Pirates got a single to right. A steal and wild pitch moved the runner to 3rd with 2 out. An 11-pitch at-bat followed, ending in a walk to put runners at the corners. Howard bounced back and got a pop up in foul territory to leave the runners stranded and keep the game 1-0.
Centre's best threat came in the top of the 5th. WIth 1 out,
Kennedy Caudill singled to right center.
Jada Challiss then beat out a bunt to first. An error on the play allowed Caudill to go to 3rd. Two batters later,
Kira Mashburn drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases.
Brinley Muller was next but grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning with 3 on. Centre would not seriously threaten again as the Pirates took the game.
Ashley Howard (4-6) was saddled with two tough losses to her record. On the day, she pitched a combined 9 innings, scattering 11 hits and 4 runs on 163 pitches.
The Colonels will look for an important series finale win on Sunday starting at 12:00pm ET.
