G-MAC Softball Championship Page


XENIA, Ohio – The six-team field at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship dodged ominous forecasted weather as six games were successfully completed on the first day of tournament action.
 
The six teams were trimmed down to four in the double-elimination formatted bracket as sixth-seeded Salem International and third-seeded Davis & Elkins made their exit.
 
No. 1 Trevecca Nazarene and No. 4 Cedarville both went 2-0 on Thursday while No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan and No. 5 Ursuline each split.
 
The stage is set for TNU and Cedarville to meet in the winner’s bracket tomorrow morning at noon while KWC and Ursuline will play each other for the second time in the tournament for the right to advance.
 
Heavy rains were projected across the area earlier in the week at the Athletes in Action Sports Complex, but other than a brief morning shower, the skies permitted playable weather.
 

Moments That Mattered
 
Trevecca Nazarene mashed in the opener and mashed some more with an offensive slugfest in two shortened run-ruled games…Mary Collins deposited her ninth homer of the year over the left-field fence vs. SIU with the wind blowing in…Jordan Griner launched a grand slam -- her second four RBI hit of the year – and Shelby Andrews/Caitlyn Hudgins went back-to-back for solo blasts in the third inning vs. D&E…The Trojans outscored their opponents by a combined score of 25-1.
 
Ursuline’s Leah Leshnack triggered a pair of rare 5-2-3 double plays by the third inning against Salem International – bailing the Arrows out of tricky bases-loaded, one-out situations…Ursuline pitcher Brittany Humbel was both the winner in the circle and hero at the plate with the walkoff hit in the eighth inning as a pitcher’s duel with SIU’s Kayla Lynch went into extras.
 
The Yellow Jackets of Cedarville stung a pair of opponents seeded more favorably and rode first team all-conference ace Morgan Arbogast to wins against Davis & Elkins and Kentucky Wesleyan…Nicole Davis tripled in the right field corner and scored on an errant throw resulting in an inconventional ‘inside the park home run’.
 
KWC manufactured three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against Ursuline as freshman Maci Brown pitched another beauty…The two-time G-MAC Pitcher of the Week was touched for just one run on five hits…a Samantha Marksbury RBI double, run-scoring grounder by Delaney Mixer and an infield RBI hit by Alexis Chapman gave KWC cushion in the late innings.
 
 
Statistical Standouts
 
Collins and Hudgins from TNU were a combined 9-for-12 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI and four runs scored...Sadie Jones of Ursuline homered and was 3-for-5 on the day…Arbogast pitched 12 total innings and picked up both winning decisions for the Yellow Jackets while posting a 1.17 ERA….Three-time G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Haley Fagan of TNU went about business as usual with nine strikeouts…KWC freshman Maci Brown went the distance for a complete game win against Ursuline…G-MAC Freshman of the Year Meredith Daunhauer had three hits and a pair of stolen bases.