11 Straight! TSU Softball Clinches 11th SWAC West Crown With Pair Of Wins Over Southern

Tevanae Tate hit two home runs and TSU received near-flawless pitching in two games as they clinched its 11^th consecutive SWAC West Title on Senior Day and first for head coach Raven Rodriguez with dominant 9-0, 10-0 wins over Southern on Friday afternoon at Memorial Park.

TSU 9, Southern 0
Jazmine Gendorf threw her first career no-hitter while three Lady Tigers had two hits apiece as TSU won the opener 9-0 in game one.

Tate opened the scoring for TSU with a solo shot over the center field wall for the early 1-0 lead in the second. Daryn Haslam would single followed by Mila Rodriguez’s double which led to Ja’Lynn Swiney’s 2-RBI single for a 3-0 lead. In the third, TSU would load the bases and once again, an error by SU led to 2-RBI from Swiney. Ashling Shahan hit a 2-RBI double to score Swiney as the lead grew to 7-0.

Crimson Davis led the fourth off with a single and moved to third after a stolen base and Tate bunt. Senior Julia Bilbao hit a two-RBI single to score both runners for the final margin. Gendorf was nearly flawless in the pitcher’s circle as the Waco, Texas native stymied Southern’s lineup with no hits along with four strikeouts.

Tate, Bilbao and Shahan all had two hits while Swiney accounted for a team-high 4 RBI.

TSU 10, Southern 0
Needing one win to clinch the SWAC West, TSU wasted no time in securing the crown as they scored 10 runs within the first two innings for a 10-0 win in game two.

Pamela Richardson led the Lady Tigers off with a single in the bottom of the first and moved into scoring position after stealing second and third. Paige Jackson hit a sac fly to score Richardson which set up Tate’s second homer of the afternoon for the 2-0 lead.

One inning later, Daryn Haslam led the second off with a double to left followed by Mila Rodriguez’s walk. Ja’Lynn Swiney hit a double and the throw home was in time but the catcher dropped the ball on the tag as Rodriguez scored. The catcher would overthrow third attempting to get Swiney out as the freshman scored for a 5-0 lead.

Paige Jackson would double home Crimson Davis for a 6-0 lead followed by Tate’s walk. An SU fielding error led to two more runs on Julia Bilbao’s single which was followed by Mila Rodriguez’s RBI single for the final run.

Starter Naomi Reyes also flirted with a no-hitter but allowed a hit in the third before giving way to senior Mariah Youngblood in the fifth. Ten Lady Tigers accounted for a hit as Jackson, Bilbao and Swiney had two RBI.

TSU is back in action next week at the SWAC Tournament in Gulfport, Miss. TSU has clinched the top seed and will await its opponent shortly once announced by the SWAC.