LONGWOOD, Fla. - - A repeat run to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship came to an end for the Wilmington University softball team on Tuesday night, falling to eighth seeded Lenoir-Rhyne, 6-4, in nine innings at the Boombah-Solders Creek Park.
The run caps an unprecedented two-year stretch for the Wildcats, winning back-to-back East Region Championships, and winning a game in the Nationals for the first time in Wilmington's athletics department history. They reset the program record with 46 wins this year.
The Wildcats were four outs away from closing out the victory, but a two-out rally in the top of the sixth tied the games for the Bears. Both teams had chances down the stretch, but it wasn't until the ninth that either team was able to break through.
The Bears hit a single back up the middle and was sending the runner around third. The ball snuck under the glove of Taylor Gillis in center, allowing two to score. The Wildcats brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but a liner to right ended the game.
The Bears struck first in the game, hitting a two-out two-run single to left to open the scoring. But the Wildcats answered right back in the home half, as Tristyn Stewart led off the inning with a single and stolen base. Gabriella Saucedo reached on an error, allowing Stewart to score. Sara Miller then went the other way, getting a ball past the right fielder for a triple, tying the game, 2-2. Miller was waved home on the play looking to take the lead, but she was thrown out at the plate.
The Wildcats put the first two runners on base in the bottom of the second as well. Emma Zimmerman brought in a run with a long single to the left center gap. Lexi Moore then hit a sacrifice fly and the Wildcats were leading 4-2.
The defense turned two more double plays to get out of jams, first in the fifth and another in eighth to make it 29 double plays on the season.
Kylee Gunkel got the first two batters of the sixth inning out before four straight singles and an error scored two runs to tie the game. Delani Sheehan worked around a runner on third and one out in the seventh and the offense had a chance to win it in regulation. Sara Miller was hit by a pitch to start the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sam Freeland singled up the middle, putting runners on the corners. But the Bears picked up a strikeout and a comebacker to the circle to escape the jam.
The Wildcats had a runner on second in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but the Bears escaped both times.
Sam Freeland went 3-for-5 while Taylor Gillis had two hits. Lexi Moore, Sara Miller, and Emma Zimmerman all had an RBI.
The Wildcats graduate nine seniors from this year's squad. In the past two seasons, with the team mostly intact, the Wildcats have gone 90-32 (.738) with two CACC Regular Season Championships, two CACC Tournament Championships, and two East Region Championships.
