 SU
Bounces Back to Pound TLU; Claims ASC Tournament
Spot
Photo: Senior Lyndsie Travis jumps on home and
gets welcomed by her teammates after her second
inning home run in the second game vs. TLU.
Schreiner bounced back from a disappointing
first game with a 13-0 shutout in five innings
and claimed the final spot in the ASC Softball
Championships which begin next Thursday in
Irving. The Mountaineers (15-9 in ASC)
lost the opening game 4-1.
The win - when combined
with Hardin-Simmons' doubleheader sweep at UMHB
- gave SU the third spot in the ASC West.
In the process, SU further extended its
school-record season win total to 26 and set the
school record for most ASC wins in a season (15).
The 2003 team, which was the last Mountaineer
Softball team to reach the ASC Tournament, went
14-9 in ASC play.
In the first game, TLU scored a pair of runs in
both the third and sixth innings and took
advantage of a lot of Schreiner mistakes.
In the bottom of the sixth, SU used two Lady
Bulldog errors to score their lone run but it
was much too little, too late. Freshman
Becca Hay (12-9) pitched seven innings but gave
up three earned runs on six hits and took the
loss.In
the second game, a much different Schreiner team
took the field. They came out ready to
play and wasted no time getting on the board.
Senior Tara Gonzales started the home half of
the first with a single and then Schreiner
batters got three straight walks to force in the first run
of the game.
Senior Lyndsie Travis singled to drive in another
run and sophomore Marla Jendrusch scored on a
wild pitch to put SU up 3-0. In the
second inning, the Mountaineers blew the game open with
four more runs. Gonzales again singled to
start the inning and Hay followed with her own
single. Gonzales scored on a wild pitch
and Jendrusch drove in Hay with an RBI single.
After at TLU pitching change, Travis greeted the
new hurler with a long home run (into a strong wind) to
left center field to score two more. In
the third, Schreiner kept up the pressure.
Freshman Rachel Herzog, junior Lindsay Rutkowski
and Gonzales hit consecutive singles to open the
inning, scoring Herzog in the process.
With two outs, senior Sarah Trevino belted a
double to the wall in right center scoring two
more for a 10-0 lead. In the fourth
inning, senior Patsy Toman and Herzog singled to
start the inning. Gonzales drove both home
with a single and scored on Hay's sacrifice
groundout.
Toman, SU's starting pitcher in the contest, was outstanding in her
final Schreiner appearance. She went all
five innings, giving up just one hit and picked
up her team-leading 14th win of the season.
It was also the final home game for Travis,
Trevino, Gonzales and Autumn Vara.
Gonzales was 4-for-4, with 3 RBI and 4 runs
scored. Fortunately for the seniors
and their teammates, the season will continue
into next week and the postseason.
This will be
the program's fifth tournament berth. SU
earned a berth into the ASC Tournament in 1999, 2001, 2002
and 2003 and won the 1999 tournament title -
before it was a fully sanctioned NCAA program.
Schreiner will play its first round game on
Thursday, April 30th in Irving, TX, more than
likely against the #3-ranked team in the nation,
Louisiana College. LC advanced all the way
to the national championship game last year
before falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater. LC
finished #2 in the ASC East Division this year
with an overall record of 31-5 (18-4 in ASC).
The two teams have not played each other yet
this year. The
tournament is a double elimination format and
continues through Saturday.
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