Big Inning Moves Softball Past Grambling In Series Opener

The Texas Southern softball team opened its weekend SWAC series with Grambling State in emphatic fashion, winning 12-2 in a called game.

Although the home team continued their stellar form within SWAC play, that didn’t necessarily mean they walked away from this particular contest unscathed. They had to suffer first, which came at their own expense. Three fielding errors committed by the Lady Tigers set them back within the game’s first two innings. The visiting team seized advantage of the opportunity by collecting two runs for an early lead.

Despite the lethargic start, the Lady Tigers recollected themselves to trim the deficit in half immediately afterward. Leadoff hitter Julia Bilbao smacked a 2-2 pitch to left field for an extra-base hit, allowing Mila Rodriguez to scamper home from second.

From there, both teams firmly held their nerves as the game reached the final third. Nowhere else in the field was that sentiment more evident than on the mound. Even though she fell behind in the second inning, TSU starting pitcher Jazmine Gendorf proceeded to silence the Grambling offense from there on out, relinquishing just one hit and one walk.

However, the same can be said about Grambling’s Dacia Richard, who was just as effective in prohibiting the TSU offense during the same stretch.

Eventually, TSU’s bats finally woke up in the bottom of the fifth inning as they put up 12 runs to call the game prematurely. This was punctuated by Tamera McKnight’s three-run homer to left field, capping off another wondrous day for TSU.

Outside of the second inning, Gendorf stifled the Grambling offense with her arm for five innings as she surrendered four hits, two walks and no earned runs while also striking out five. Daryn Haslam, Ashling Shahan, and Rodriguez all finished with multiple hits. McKnight had four RBI followed by three from Haslam.

The Lady Tigers return to Memorial Park for a doubleheader with Grambling State which begins at noon on Saturday.