Official Championship Page
XENIA, Ohio - The final out of the game was scored as an unconventional 9-3 sequence at first base.
But make no mistake, this year's 2017 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship title run from No. 2 seed Kentucky Wesleyan seemed like scripted destiny with this group of Panthers poised for the program's next step of greatness.
Saturday morning at the Athletes in Action Complex was the climactic finale for KWC's 38th win of the season, a 7-0 shutout against No. 4 Davis & Elkins, to complete the unblemished 4-0 record in the six-team tourney bracket.
The Panthers officially earned an automatic-qualifying bid in this year's NCAA Division Ii Championship Midwest Regional. The NCAA Selection Show will be aired on Monday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern when the bracket is officially unveiled.
Kentucky Wesleyan didn't just win games, it secured wins in convincing fashion against premier pitching talent while a young and dynamic offensive group put up runs at will.
G-MAC co-Coach of the Year Miles Mallette did not sleep on Friday night. Not because of last-minute game-planning, but rather from the quiet confidence from the dugout that exudes from his team's performance. There wasn't any pressure; he just wanted to 'take things as they come' and trust that it would work out.
KWC took out Ursuline in the opening round and proceeded to defeat four-time conference champion Trevecca Nazarene twice on Friday before finishing Game 10 in the conference tournament with a shutout.
Fittingly, senior winning pitcher Jessica Carmon went the distance to set off the celebration as right fielder Jamie Tempel fired a strike to Courtney Lockwood at first base. On cue, Panthers streamed out of the dugout and converged on the infield.
Carmon also had a pinch-hit single late, just icing on the cake for a homegrown product in Owensboro. She pitched all seven innings, scattering four hits and striking out one.
KWC pounded out seven runs on 14 hits, including five-extra base hits with five doubles. The Panthers jumped on D&E starter Allie Lapallo, who had turned in back-to-back shutouts against Cedarville and Malone to help the Senators advance and stave off elimination twice.
Lapallo would last 2.1 innings before leaving with the bases loaded. KWC catcher Caitlyn Lawson delivered with a two-out three-run triple with the runners in motion on the pitch.
Freshman second baseman Lexie Mullen terrorized pitching in the conference tournament, going 7-14 with three home runs, including a grand slam. She also doubled twice and plated 13 RBI.
Another freshman, Maddie Dawson, capped her first shot at the postseason with a .733 batting average as she went 11-for-15 at the plate with three doubles and seven runs scored. KWC had six student-athletes on the all-conference first team.