Trinity Softball Plays Rhodes in First Round of SCAC Tournament

San Antonio – The Trinity Tiger softball team will face the Rhodes Lynx Friday in the opening round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship Tournament at Hendrix College at 12:00 p.m. Friday.

Trinity (14-20, 7-7 SCAC) enters as the No. 3 seed in the West Division, and Rhodes (27-13, 8-8 SCAC) is the No. 2 seed in the East.  The winner plays the West’s top seed in Millsaps (21-15, 12-4 SCAC) at 4 p.m. on Friday. The loser of the opening game will play Saturday.

The six-team, double-elimination tournament will be held through Sunday, with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Sunday’s championship game is slated for noon, with a second game at 2 p.m., if necessary.

Friday’s first game, at noon, will pit Southwestern (25-10, 10-4 SCAC, No. 2 West) and Centre (16-24, 5-11 SCAC, No. 3 East). The winner plays defending champion DePauw (28-3, 15-1 SCAC, No. 1 East) at 4 p.m.

Leading the way for the Tigers are Rachel Garrett, Megan Russell, and Karen MacPherson. Sophomore outfielder Rachel Garrett of Round Rock, Texas (Round Rock), leads the Tigers with a .355 (39-110) batting average. Garrett, who has scored 25 runs, contributed 10 RBI. She also has 17 stolen bases, out of 18 attempts. First-year infielder Megan Russell of Fort Worth, Texas (Boswell), is batting .352 (37-105). Russell has swatted 35 RBI, six doubles, and two home runs. She also has scored 24 runs. Karen MacPherson, a sophomore outfielder from Allen, Texas (Allen), has a batting average of .327 (36-100). MacPherson is Trinity’s all-time stolen base leader, and was successful on 26 of 28 attempts this season. She has produced 34 runs, four doubles, and nine RBI.

Trinity’s pitching staff is paced by two right-handed first-year players. Sydney Friday of Sugar Land, Texas (The Kinkaid School) stands at 6-8, with an ERA of 3.16 (39 earned runs). Friday has hurled 86.1 innings, and has allowed 90 hits, 19 walks, and fanned 88 batters. Sarah Rabaey of Round Rock (Round Rock) has a 3-5 record, with a 4.46 ERA (38 earned runs). Rabaey has pitched 59.2 innings, and yielded 89 hits, 15 walks, while striking out 32 players.

Trinity, led by fourth-year head coach Nicole Smith, hosted the tournament last year. The Tigers defeated Millsaps in the first round, but then lost to DePauw and Rhodes. The Tigers captured the SCAC Championship in 2007, under the leadership of coach Smith, and advanced to the NCAA playoffs. Trinity won the title on six other occasions (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006).