LONGVIEW, Texas -- A perfect start to the 2023 season for the LeTourneau softball team.
The YellowJackets rallied for a 9-7 win in Sunday's opener against Trinity before shutting out the visiting Tigers, 4-0, in the finale.
Kylie Grisham went 5-for-7 at the plate in the sweep with three stolen bases and three RBIs, while
Hailee Leger threw a complete-game shutout in the second game.
GAME ONE: LeTourneau 9, Trinity 7
Down 6-1 in the second inning, LeTourneau used a six-run fourth inning to complete the comeback win in the opener, 9-7.
Grisham and
Rylie Shipp each had two hits in the win as the YellowJackets scored in each of the first four innings, capped by the outburst in the fourth.
LeTourneau grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Grisham scored on a Trinity error. The visiting Tigers totaled six runs in the second to go ahead 6-1.
The YellowJackets chipped away at the margin.
Ashlyn Wood had an RBI ground out in the second inning before
Murphy Williams hit a solo homer in the third to make it 6-3. After Trinity got a run in the fourth, LeTourneau sent 10 to the plate in a six-run fourth inning.
Shipp doubled home two runs to trim the deficit to 7-5 after
Leighton Landreth walked to start the inning and
Kenna Hendry doubled. Two batters later,
Izzy Tresca delivered a pinch-hit, RBI single that plated Shipp to make it 7-6. Grisham gave the lead to LeTourneau for good with her two-run single before she scored on a passed ball to cap the frame and put the YellowJackets ahead 9-7.
Laney Taylor closed the door on Trinity in the circle with a three-inning save. Taylor did not allow a hit in her three innings as she notched her first save. Williams (1-0) got the win in the circle after battling through four innings in her start.
Brooke Porter (0-1) got the loss for Trinity in her relief appearance.
GAME TWO: LeTourneau 4, Trinity 0
Leger was spectacular in the circle for LeTourneau as she threw a shutout and the YellowJackets completed the sweep with a 4-0 win.
Leger (1-0) allowed just two hits and did not surrender a walk in her seven innings. She struck out three and needed only 74 pitches to complete the game.
Trinity's Marina Delaluna led off the game with a double, but Leger stranded her on third to keep the Tigers off the board. Leger then retired 10 straight Tigers before Carsyn Lee's infield single in the fourth. That was the final Trinity baserunner as Leger then set down the final 11 batters to end the game.
Grisham once again ignited the offense in the first inning. She led off with a double and scored on a Williams RBI single two batters later to give LeTourneau a 1-0 lead.
That margin stood until the fifth when Grisham was at it again. Grisham had a bunt single and then stole and third base before scoring on an errant throw to make it 2-0.
LeTourneau tacked on two more runs in the sixth for insurance. Taylor produced a sacrifice fly that scored Hendry before Grisham singled home
Graci Hart.
Emery Boettcher (0-4) got the loss in the circle for the Tigers after three earned runs in 5.1 innings.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME
UP NEXT
LeTourneau hosts Hendrix for a doubleheader on Saturday (12 p.m.).
