G-MAC Championship Softball Page
XENIA, Ohio - Under the lights, Trevecca Nazarene didn’t waver from the spotlight while polishing off another perfect run through the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship bracket on Friday.
The Trojans improved to 15-0 all-time in the G-MAC Championship since 2013 after beating Cedarville twice on Friday, 2-0, and in the tournament nightcap finale, 4-0.
And there to have been a part of it all is a special senior class with elite talent from Haley Fagan, Shelby Andrews, Jordan Griner and Ansley Brantley.
All four had their fingerprints on the impact and success of the program and will celebrate once more as the Trojans will crash the NCAA Division II Championship Midwest Regional – this time as the league’s first automatic qualifier.
Fagan was electric in the circle, Andrews was roping line drives to the gaps in the alleys, Griner launched a grand slam and two run-scoring doubles and Brantley penned the final chapter of the title chase with a leadoff opposite field blast.
“We came in as freshmen and coach told us we’re here to win ballgames,” Griner said. “We didn’t know what that meant until we got to the conference tournament and every year you work hard for the seniors and being a senior this year and having everyone behind you – it’s just an amazing team to be with.”
It also means TNU and head coach Ben Tyree can rest at ease during the NCAA selection process.
Although the Trojans’ body of work during the regular season should have been more than enough to catch the regional committee’s attention, this year’s squad is firing on all cylinders and ready to make some more noise at the national level.
“This group has hit the ball so well in the tournament and given our team a chance to win,” Tyree said. “I think a lot of people assumed we would win, but I don’t think it was a given. This conference is getting better and better and anyone can beat anybody on a given day. I think the tournament was wide open this year.”
The threat of inclement weather forced the tournament to conclude on Friday at the Athletes in Action Complex. A total of 10 games were officially finished as the field started with six teams on Thursday.
Credit deserved is an understatement to fourth-seeded Cedarville for making it to the final after the Yellow Jackets beat No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan twice and upset No. 3 Davis & Elkins in the opening round. Cedarville overcame a grand slam from KWC’s Samantha Marksbury for a walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh, just one of the thrilling moment’s from this year’s tourney.
But the Yellow Jackets’ Achilles’ heel all season long has been the matchup with Trevecca Nazarene.
In six matchups this spring, Cedarville has been unable to plate across any runs although the Yellow Jackets were close in certain scenarios.
Moments That Mattered
Unofficial at-bats are a really underrated part of the game as the Trojans executed small ball to perfection to manufacture runs. After mashing the ball out of the park for most of the day on Thursday, TNU showed it could win by doing the little things vs. Cedarville to open Friday.
Danielle Tyson deadened two sacrifice bunts to move runners and a sacrifice fly was skied deep enough to left field to score TNU’s second run of the game.
Brantley belted her 12th home run of the year to score the only run TNU would need in the top of the first inning in the championship game. She ranks second in the league in career home runs.
The Yellow Jackets had three consecutive singles against three-time G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Haley Fagan, but couldn’t break through in the fourth inning leaving the bases juiced.
Clutch hitting was key for Kentucky Wesleyan in an elimination game. Two-out RBI’s in the first and second innings were timely off the bats of Shelby Tennant and Courtney Lockwood. Lockwood’s triple carried in a hurry to deep right field and scored Alexis Chapman all the way from first to make it a 3-0 lead.
Representing the tying run at the plate in the top of the 7th inning and having already homered, Kaitlyn Krijeck struck out on three pitches by Casey Smith. Smith then fanned G-MAC batting champ Brigitte Snow on three pitches to end the game.
KWC’s Mallory Nease snared a screamer at the hot corner to take away a hit and leave a runner stranded to end the first inning. Cedarville’s Brianne O’Dell made a nifty play of her own on the infield, faking a throw to first before tagging out Daunhauer at second base; she would have scored on a Kaci Ovelgoenner single later in the inning.
Alexis Chapman robbed an extra-base hit from Nikki Eigisti to end the 4th, running a line drive down in the left center alley. Mackenzie Weedman muscled an opposite field, two-out grand slam to break the game open in the top half of the fifth inning, but Cedarville's Brianne O'Dell had a two-run double in the bottom half of the frame to draw even.
Nicole Davis went over the shoulder and dove in foul territory to flash the leather and make a web gem by the left-field foul line. Danielle Wolgamot also made a terrific diving backhanded grab in left field to end the second inning.
Looking Ahead
The Trojans await the release of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional bracket. Last year in Indianapolis, Trevecca Nazarene advanced all the way to the regional final before being eliminated by Indianapolis. UIndy, the probable to host again, currently tops the regional rankings and the Midwest Region is stocked full of dynamic pitching talent with Fagan (TNU), Morgan Foley (UIndy) and Hannah Perryman (UMSL). Runs will come at a premium against these types of aces.