Brownwood, Texas – The Central Christian College of Kansas Softball team traveled to Brownwood, Texas to open their season as they faced Divison III Howard Payne University. The Tigers started their season on the right foot, taking 3 of the 4 games in the series.
The first game was a close one that only saw 4 runs come across all game. The Tigers put up 4 runs in the 4th inning with situational hitting and a big 2 RBI double from Baylee Blackburn. The Tigers were aided by a strong outing from Clarissa Rejeno after she tossed 7 scoreless innings only allowing 2 hits and 2 walks.
The second game of the day was an offensive explosion from both teams as the Tigers took this one 12-7. Trailing 6-4 in the top of the 7th, the Tigers took advantage of HPU miscues as walks and errors compiled and allowed batters to reach base to extend the inning. The knockout punch came with 2 outs in the inning and the bases loaded when Ashley Vaccaro found a pitch she liked and smashed it over the left field fence for a grand slam. This extended the Tigers lead to 12-7 and would give them the momentum needed to finish out the game, sealing the win and taking both games on Friday.
Saturday featured two more slugfests where the Tigers pounced early, scoring 3 runs in the first 3 innings. HPU would not go quietly though as they battled back to cut the defecit to 5-3. The Tigers would ultimately fall in this game after 3 hits led to 3 runs coming across to give the Yellowjackets a walk-off win in game 3.
The final game in the series featured 13 combined runs and 20 hits between both teams. The Tigers were led offensively in the game by Baylee Blackburn who had three hits as well as Ciara Valadez who had two hits and two RBI’s. The Tigers would go on to win the final game 8-5 and win the series 3-1 over Howard Payne.
The Tigers (3-1), now turn their attention to Southwestern College as they will go down to Winfield for two games on February 17th. The games will be streamed on the Urban Edge Network and KCAC Sports Network.
