LONGVIEW, Texas -- LeTourneau softball opened the season with a tough Trinity team and fell in both games of the doubleheader, 5-3 and 10-4, at the LETU softball field in Longview.

GAME ONE: Trinity 5, LeTourneau 3

The YellowJackets nearly came back from a 5-0 deficit, but could not overcome the Tigers in game one, falling 5-3.

Laney Taylor (0-1) got the loss for LeTourneau, while Trinity's Josephine Koelewyn (1-0) picked up the win.

With only three innings to go, the YellowJackets had fallen behind, 5-0, and needed a spark. Maddi Smith provided said spark with a two-run bullet home run to left field, making it 5-2 at the end of six.

After Kensie Baldwin threw a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning, it was LeTourneau's turn on offense. Jenna Carter led off the inning with a single and stole second base during the next at-bat. Kylie Grisham's RBI ground out brought Carter home, but that would be the final chance LeTourneau would get, as a ground out ended the game.

Jenna Rosson collected her first hit as a YellowJacket in this game, rapping a single the opposite way. Leighton Landreth also went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.

GAME TWO: Trinity 10, LeTourneau 4

The YellowJackets nearly overcame another early deficit, but the Trinity offense was too much in the end, with the final score being 10-4.

The win went to Megan Kriechbaum (1-0), while the loss was given to Kirstin Ferguson (0-1).

After trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning, with two outs, Kylie Grisham hit a rocket to shortstop and Angela Baltzell could not make the play, giving LeTourneau their first run. Then, a perfectly executed double steal brought home Alexa Neilon to make it 3-2.

After another two run inning for the Tigers in the fifth, the YellowJackets responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Maddie Flanery's sacrifice bunt brought home Jaci Taylor and then an error from Trinity on that play allowed Carter to score, making it a 5-4 ball game.

It was all Tigers from there, though, as they scored five unanswered runs to clinch the doubleheader sweep.

Raina Doggett made her LeTourneau debut in this series and swung the bat well in game two, going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles.

Carsyn Lee had a good doubleheader for Trinity, going 4-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBIs.

UP NEXT

The YellowJackets will play a doubleheader against Southwestern tomorrow starting at 12 p.m.

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