No. 3 Softball’s Record Breaking Season Comes to an End, 7-4, to No. 7 New Haven in NCAA East Regional Tournament

Copyright; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Samantha Kelley, May 10, 2019 vs. New Haven in the NCAA DII East 2 Regional Tournament.
Copyright; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Samantha Kelley, May 10, 2019 vs. New Haven in the NCAA DII East 2 Regional Tournament.

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Press Release Written by Sports Information Graduate Intern MaryKate Rumbaugh

NEW CASTLE, Del. – Three runs in the final two innings would give seventh seeded New Haven a 7-4 lead over third seeded Wilmington University softball, ending their record breaking season in the NCAA Division II East 2 Regional Tournament on Friday afternoon at Asbury Field.

The Chargers would jump on the board first, scoring three runs off a three-run homerun to take an early lead, heading into the Wildcats first at bats.

Kiana Broderson-Jones would start the bottom half of the inning with a one out single to left center, before stealing second to get the Wildcats going. Alyssa Velasquez would be in the three-hole and come up with a double to center, which would score Broderson-Jones and bring the deficit to 3-1.

New Haven would get one more back in the top of the second on a double to make it 4-1 lead in their favor. The Wildcats would get two on in scoring position in the bottom of the third, but the Chargers would retire three in a row to get out of the inning, stranding the runners on.

A quick 1-2-3 inning for Caitlyn Whiteside in the top of the fourth would bring the Wildcats back to the plate. Lauren Lopez would start the inning with a leadoff walk, before designated player, Kiersten Comer followed her with another walk to put both on. Lexi Baughman would then do her job and lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners in scoring position, before Angela Antonini loaded the bases on a hit by pitch.

With the bases loaded and still with one out, Alexis Sann gave the Wildcats their second run of the game with a single to left, scoring Lopez, bringing up the top of the order in Rosa'Lynn Burton. Burton would get in on the action with a single, before advancing to second on a fielding error, which scored two for WilmU, tying the ballgame at 4-4. The Wildcats would have another chance with the bases loaded, but would get two straight outs to end the three run inning.

Wilmington would have a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth, but stranded another runner on third. With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Chargers would take the go-ahead lead with a bases loaded walk to head into the bottom half of the inning. Another opportunity for the Wildcats was there, as Sann and Burton hit back-to-back singles to start the inning off, but New Haven was able to retire the next three batters in order, leaving the two runners on.

Still a one-run game heading into the final inning, the Chargers would hit a two-out, two-run shot to left to extend their lead to 7-4, heading into the Wildcats' final at bats. After coming back from the 4-1 deficit, the Wildcats could not get a seventh inning rally going, ending the ballgame, 7-4.

Juniors Rosa'Lynn Burton and Alexis Sann both went 2-for-3 in the ballgame, as Burton had two RBI, as Sann collected one. Alyssa Velasquez had a double and one RBI in the contest, while Kiana Broderson-Jones had one hit.

Senior Caitlyn Whiteside (at left) would finish out her dominating season and career, going 7.0 IP, allowing eight hits, six earned runs, and four walks, while striking out four batters. Whiteside would end the season with a single season wins record of 20-9. The CACC Pitcher of the Year leaves Wilmington, pitching the most innings in program history with 678.2 throughout her career, among other career program records.

Wilmington would finish the season 39-15 overall, capturing their best overall record in program history.