Softball Suffers Pair Of Heartbreakers To Open Season

| Box Score 2

SAN ANTONIO – Texas Southern suffered a pair of heartbreakers on Friday as they dropped both games at the H-E-B Classic in the late innings.
 
Toledo 7, TSU 5
A two-RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth was the difference as TSU dropped its season opener 7-5 to Toledo.
 
TSU opened the season on a strong note as Julia Bilbao recorded an RBI single for the year’s first run as Crimson Davis scored. Mila Rodriguez’s single up the middle gave TSU a 2-0 lead after the top of the first but Toledo tied the game in the bottom half with a two-run homer. Toledo added three runs in the second to jump ahead 5-2 but TSU would chip away at the lead with an RBI from Daryn Haslam in the third followed by A’Leecia Bell’s and Haslam’s RBIs after a walk in the fourth for a 5-5 tie.
 
In the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Toledo recorded a two-RBI triple to break the tie and struck out the side in the top of the seventh to preserve the win.
 
Terren Vinson finished 2-for-2 with a run while Haslam led the way with two RBIs. Naomi Reyes (0-1) struck out 10 batters in five innings of action.
 
Incarnate Word 7, TSU 6
 
TSU surrendered four runs in the bottom of the sixth as UIW rallied to claim a 7-6 win in the nightcap.
 
Daryn Haslam gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the first inning after a two-run homer which scored Crimson Davis. After two scoreless innings, UIW answered with a three-run third frame to move ahead 3-2 but TSU responded in the fifth to jump ahead 4-3 after Haslam’s two-RBI single up the middle.
 
The Tigers would pad its lead in the sixth via Zariah Robins’ two-RBI single for a 6-3 lead. However, UIW would counter in the bottom frame as they loaded the bases with one out and scored on an infield single followed by a fielding error on the next at-bat which tied the game at 6-6. On the next at-bat, UIW would reclaim the lead on a sac fly.
 
TSU opened the seventh with a leadoff single by Mylonee Becerra but that would be the only offense in the inning as UIW retired the final three batters in order.
 
Haslam went 2-for-2 with four RBI and a run scored while Zariah Robins finished 2-for-3 with two RBI. Mariah Youngblood was tagged with the loss as she struck out three in a relief performance.
 
The Tigers close out tourney play versus Creighton at 10 a.m. and North Dakota State at 12 p.m. Saturday.