This past weekend, the University of the Southwest traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for a pair of doubleheaders against RRAC opponents. The Mustangs were coming off a midweek win against Wayland Baptist University and aimed to improve their standing within the conference. Texas A&M-San Antonio would welcome them on Saturday and Our Lady of the Lake on Sunday. The Lady Mustangs would struggle in both series as they fell in all four games over the weekend.
Texas A&M-San Antonio
Game 1
The first game against Texas A&M-San Antonio would be a pitcher's duel through and through. Junior
Marley Moralez would start the game for the Lady Mustangs, throwing 5.1 shutout innings while only allowing four hits and striking out two.
Junior
Hope Quinones would relieve Moralez in the 6
th inning. She would also throw well in 2.1 innings of work, only allowing one hit.
The game would stay with donuts on the board until the 8
th inning when TAMUSA got a run on via a walk and drove them in with a 2-out double to walk the game off.
Game 2
The Jaguars would have a different start in game two of the series, getting to starter
Hope Quinones right from the jump. A pair of doubles brought in the first three runs, and an RBI single capped off a four-run first inning.
TAMUSA would add another run in the bottom of the 3
rd inning of an error, extending their lead to five.
The Lady Mustangs would get on the board in the top of the 4
th when Freshman
Hannah Campos drove in
Lia Gutierrez and
Felicity Villanueva with a single.
The Jags would strike back with two in the 5
th inning, including a solo shot to lead off the inning, and another in the 6
th inning to put the game away at 8-2.
Our Lady of the Lake
GAME 1
The Lady Mustangs would face an even more formidable opponent on Sunday in the form of second-ranked Our Lady of the Lake. The Saints would show why they are so highly ranked in the 1
st inning with ten runs on seven hits.
Sophomore
Lia Gutierrez would come in relief to quiet down the OLLU bats a bit with two innings of work and only allowing one run. Sophomore
Ashley Alvarez also performed well in relief, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing one hit.
The Saints' pitching would shut down the Lady Mustangs' offense in game one, allowing them to take a 10-0 win to begin the series.
Game 2
The Lady Mustangs would get on the board early in game two when Freshman Janessa Gabaldon blasted on out to left field in the 2
nd inning to give USW the 1-0 lead.
The Saints would not wait long to get themselves back in it as they added two runs in the bottom half of the inning, giving them the lead. The second-ranked team in the nation would not look back as they would go on to put 11 runs in the bottom of the 4
th inning, including three home runs, to give them a 13-1 lead.
USW added a few runs in the top of the 5
th inning when Freshman
Xyla Madry went deep for a 3-run home run. Unfortunately, the Lady Mustangs would be held there, and OLLU would take it 13-4 for the series sweep.
Head Coach
Chris Petroski shared his thoughts following the weekend, "We faced tough RRAC opponents in San Antonio with TAMUSA and No. 2 OLLU. We knew we had to be prepared to be on the road and spent the week working on every offense and defensive situations that may arise. We fought hard against TAMUSA on Saturday's opener, taking them into the 8th inning and falling short. We had some offensive opportunities to come through, and we're able to cross the plate."
"It's good for everyone to see the caliper of competition we will be facing moving forward for the remainder of the season. We control our own destiny and are writing our story. High energy and playing together is going to be our key to success, along with hard work and finding ways to score runs and eliminate free bases in the circle and on defense."
USW Softball will return home this weekend as they host Louisiana Christian University on Friday and Xavier University (LA.) on Saturday. Continue to follow USW Athletics and USW Softball on all social media for scores and updates throughout the season.
