Softball team corralled by Mustangs

USW sweeps SAGU in New Mexico

Lady Lions prepare for home debut this week

HOBBS, New Mexico -- The women's softball team at Southwestern Assemblies of God University may be experiencing growing pains in their inaugural season this spring. But they are not without their share of exciting plays!

Facing the University of the Southwest, a team that has qualified for seven consecutive berths in the Red River Athletic Conference post-season tournament, the Lady Lions simply couldn't make enough of them to win.

The Mustangs took the three-game series with scores of 9-1 on Friday, as well as 13-3 and 9-0 in a Saturday doubleheader.

SAGU added a new player, senior Gabby Bruner (Peaster, Tx / Peaster HS), who recently concluded her four year career as a starting forward for the women’s basketball team. A prep standout as a Peaster “Greyhound,” she played leftfield this weekend and drew the praise of the USW coaching staff.

The gain was offset by the loss of starting centerfielder Cassandra Mata (Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS). The junior co-captain suffered an arm injury during a diving catch at practice on Thursday and missed the 415-mile trip.

How long she will be out will be determined this week.

Lady Lions play 5 home games this week

Head Coach Tim Grant’s squad will need to recover quickly as they will play eight games over the next five days.

Team Lioness meets Texas Wesleyan University (8-16 overall) on Monday in a twi-light doubleheader. The first game at Sycamore Park (directions posted below) in Ft. Worth starts at 5:00pm. The Rams have lost their last nine games.

The teams will clash again on Tuesday night in a single game at 7:00pm.

SAGU’s much anticipated first appearance at their new on-campus ball field is later this week.

The Purple Pride will entertain Oklahoma’s Langston University (10-9 won-lost ledger) in a twinbill on Thursday afternoon. The first game is set for a 3:00pm first pitch.

Huston-Tillotson University (4-18 record) comes from Austin to Waxahachie for a single home game on Friday at 3:00pm. The two teams will tangle in a double-dip on Saturday that begins at noon.

Fans and the general public are welcome. There is no admission charge.

Weekend Summary versus USW

FRIDAY SOLO GAME

The Lady Lions dropped the opener to the University of the Southwest, 9-1.

SAGU scored their lone run in the second inning. Iliana Jiminez (Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS) started by lining a double to rightfield, though she was thrown out at third base. Kasey Poovey’s (Nevada, Tx / Community HS) single to center would have been an RBI had ‘Loni’ held up at second.

Chelsey Doyle (Seattle, Wash / Shorecrest HS) pounded a double to rightfield, advancing Poovey to third, where she scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Bruner.

Lauren Johnson (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) pitched well according to Assistant Coach Rachel Harris. She absorbed the loss to the Fillies, who are perennial powers in the RRAC.

SATURDAY FIRST GAME

Southwestern battled hard but were felled by a solid hitting effort from USW in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, a 13-3 setback.

The Lions scored in the top of the second to trail 2-1.

Poovey singled to shallow right and trotted to third when Doyle flaired a single to leftcenter. She was cut down at the plate on a fielder’s choice by Jessica Smith (Houston, Tx / La Porte HS). Doyle came home when her comrade, Shannen Davis (Kremlin, Ok / Kremlin-Hillsdale HS), singled to rightfield.

SAGU tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the fifth frame.

Theresa Ballard (Austin, Tx / Homeschool) and Jiminez got on board thanks to errors by the Mustangs’ pitcher and shortstop on successive plays. Bree Lawrence (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) filled the bags with ‘Cats when she was given a base on balls.

Senior Tabitha Ray (Brazoria, Tx / Homeschool) drove in Ballard and Jiminez when she got her first base hit of the season, a shot into the right-centerfield gap!

Davis and Ray shared pitching duties.

SATURDAY SECOND GAME

The Jungle Queens were blanked 9-0 as Southwest picked up their eighth win in a row, improving their season mark to 15-10. They are 9-3 in the RRAC, which places them in a virtual three-way tie for first.

SAGU’s best hits were scattered, preventing them from erasing the goose-egg.

Doyle hit a frozen rope just over the second baseman’s head in the second inning. Ballard sent a two-out single to rightcenter in the third. In the fifth, Bruner leveled a single to left.

Johnson and Davis worked from the mound in the final game. Davis retired the side in order in one inning.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.

Directions to Sycamore Park: Take Highway 287 north toward downtown Fort Worth. Exit Rosedale Avenue and head east (right). Turn left at the Sycamore Park entrance. The field is the third on the left.

The field is less than a mile west of the Wesleyan campus.

The Sycamore digs, which has a capacity for 500 fans, has been the Lady Rams’ home site since 1989. Its dimensions are 210-feet in leftfield, 225-feet to the centerfield fence, and are 205-feet from home plate to the rightfield foul pole.