Curbed Enthusiasm in Cowtown

Lady Lions softball swept by Wesleyan

SAGU has 5-home games Thurs, Fri, Sat

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Two big hits by the host Texas Wesleyan University were enough to fell the Southwestern Assemblies of God University softball team, 9-0, during a Tuesday night game at Sycamore Park.

A bases-loaded double and a home-run to centerfield brought in another three runs for the Rams, who moved into a first place tie in the Red River Athletic Conference.

There are five teams jammed at the top, separated by just one game. The top six qualify for the post-season tournament.

Wesleyan is 9-3 in games against the league, 11-16 overall.

“Two hits,” sighed SAGU’s first year Head Coach Tim Grant. “But they were big hits. Two hits produced six runs."

"But our girls battled and keep making progress," he stated. "We’re not where we want to be, though we’re hungry to get there.”

The Lady Lions are 1-14 in all games and 0-12 in the RRAC. They are tied with Huston Tillotson University for eighth in the nine-team league.

Much-Anticipated Home Debut Arrives this Week

Southwestern’s long-awaited first home game finally arrives this week after two months of road dates.

Pop-singer Carly Simon, in her 1971 hit tune “Anticipation,” sang that anticipation is “making me late, is keeping me waiting.” She concluded that even during a season of hope, “stay right here, ‘because these are the good old days.” And the expectancy materializes this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

SAGU will play host to Langston University (10-9, 7-9 in RRAC) for a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. The first game will begin at 3:00pm on the new campus ballpark. The second game will start approximately twenty minutes following the first, likely between 4:30-5:00pm (CST).

The Lady Lions will entertain Tillotson (4-18, 2-6 in RRAC) for a three-game series this weekend; 4:00pm solo game on Friday, March 30, and a Saturday twinbill at noon and 2:00pm.

According to Coach Grant, all three of the team’s pitchers will see action during the 5-game homestand.

That includes freshman Lauren Johnson (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) and sophomore Shannen Davis (Kremlin, Ok / Kremlin-Hillsdale HS), the primary starters, and senior Tabitha Ray (Brazoria, Tx / Homeschool). Ray has started but usually serves as the team's relief hurler.

Game Review

Texas Wesleyan rode a dominating pitching performance by Alexis Beltran (6-4) for the victory. She held the Lions scoreless while limiting them to one hit. The sophomore RHP struck out eight batters, six of them swinging.

Beltran tossed a no-hitter against Team Lioness on Monday, fanning six. She is the ace of the Lady Rams pitching staff.

Team Purp’s best chance to score came early.

With two outs in the first, Davis walked. Clean-up batter, Chelsey Doyle (Seattle, Wa / Shorecrest HS), pounded a frozen rope to rightfield that was grabbed by Ashleigh Jiminez to stymie the bid. It would be the team’s only runner left on base at the end of any of their five innings.

The Rams got the only run they would need in the bottom of the second. A leadoff walk and the botched handling of a bunt by the pitcher set up the TWU rally. Beltran helped her own cause with an RBI single to rightfield for a 1-0 lead.

Southwestern made a bid to knot the score in the top half of the third.

Johnson, a local product, laced a solid, one-out single to leftfield. Attempting to get into scoring position, she was nailed at second by catcher Kali Jester.

The Lady Ewes responded by scoring five times in the third, all of them unearned, each after there were two outs.

An error in leftfield sparked the surge, which was paved by a pair of walks (both scored). Hopie (HOH-pee) Perez, senior second baseman, then cracked a 3-run double to leftfield for a 6-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Rams put the game away with a single down the leftfield line and a walk. A SAGU pitching change didn’t slow the hosts.

An immediate wild pitch advanced the runners before sophomore Lindsay Cline, batting .375, walloped her third homer of the season to straight-away centerfield.

Outstanding in their field!

Southwestern received the kind of effort by three outfielders that Coach Grant described as “exceptional.”

Kayla Westbrook (Milano, Tx / Milano HS) and Kelsea Svochak (Ft. Worth, Tx / Bethesda HS) each made a pair of catches in right while Bree Lawrence (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) “…has been great in centerfield since we lost Cassie,” praised Grant. “She has stepped up her game!”

He referred to CF Cassandra Mata (MAH-tah) (Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS), who’s arm injury has ended her season.

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