FINDLAY, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican softball team completed an improbably championship run on Sunday, beating Trevecca Nazarene twice to win the 2022 Great Midwest Softball Championship. After a thrilling 2-1 win in extra innings to force the necessary winner-take-all final, ODU held off TNU 6-4 to finish the run. In all, No. 2 seed Ohio Dominican won five straight games after losing its first game on Thursday.

The final game was not short of drama, with a late grand slam by Trevecca tying the game before ODU answered in the bottom of the 6th. Ohio Dominican led 4-0 and looked to be in control when TNU's Alyssa Triner hit a grand slam to make it a 4-4 ballgame. 

ODU then answered with the next four batters all hitting a single, with the go-ahead run coming on a single by Madison Shemwell. After an out at the plate, Ohio Dominican plated an insurance run on a sac fly from Braxton Downs. Sydney Long, the conference pitcher of the year, finished the win by getting three groundouts in the 7th. 

Ohio Dominican collected 11 hits in the game, the most by any team in a game during the tournament. Alli Madden went 3-for-3 and scored three runs and Alexis Stevens had two hits and scored twice. Eight different Panthers collected a hit in the clinching victory. 

In the day's first game, Trevecca Nazarene scored in the bottom of the 1st on an RBI single by Gracie Kirby before Ohio Dominican tied the game with a squeeze bunt in the 2nd inning. The game would go into extras tied 1-1 until ODU got two singles and a walk to load the bases in the top of the 8th. A McKenna Conley sac fly was the go-ahead run. Trevecca put a runner on 2nd base in the bottom half but couldn't find the tying run. 

Ohio Dominican (35-17) will be the Great Midwest's automatic qualifier in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.