AUSTIN – Huston-Tillotson University's varsity softball program played its first home games in nearly two years Tuesday as head coach
Kacey Hvitved continues to guide the team into a new era.
With the Rams now playing softball home games at the Downs-Mabson Complex (adjacent to historic Downs Field, home of the HT baseball team), the Rams welcomed a formidable opponent to Austin, the NAIA's defending national champion and current No. 1-ranked team, Our Lady of the Lake.
The visiting Saints, who were also the visiting team the last time HT hosted a softball doubleheader on March 7, 2023, won this week's contests by scores of 16-5 and 13-1. While the final scores were less than ideal, the big story was the return home of HT softball – appropriately only three days after HT's sesquicentennial homecoming day.
A myriad of issues led to the cancellation of the second half of the Rams' 2023 season. Hvitved was hired shortly before the start of the 2024 season, but injuries to a depleted roster necessitated the cancellation of the 2024 campaign after only four games, all on the road.
Though the scoreboard didn't necessarily reflect it, Tuesday's games represented the turning of a new page for the HT softball team. And there were several highlights for the Rams, not least of which was the fact that they scored six runs against OLLU, a team that had previously been unscored upon in its previous Red River Athletic Conference games.
The play of senior transfer
Kayla Camacho (Sealy, Texas / Howard Payne) led the way for the Rams against Our Lady of the Lake. She knocked solo home runs in each game and collected three RBIs. In game one, Camacho was 3-for-3 at the plate.
In the pitcher's circle, Camacho pitched nine and two-thirds innings over both contests.
Freshmen players
Alayali Alaniz,
Grecia Bazaldua, and
Aidan Johnson all knocked hits in both games one and two.
Huston-Tillotson was scheduled to open the softball season last week against Dallas Christian, but rain forced game one of that doubleheader to be halted in the top of the first inning. Those games have been rescheduled for Friday, April 25.
The Rams return to action Saturday, March 1, with road games at Texas A&M–San Antonio. The games will be played at St. Mary's University's campus softball stadium, which is TAMUSA's temporary home until the completion of its own campus stadium.
First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader between the Rams and Jaguars is scheduled for noon.
– HT –
