Alma, Mich. - After a year of much success the Alma College softball teams season has come to an end after falling to Benedictine University in the NCAA Regional Tournament. The #14 Alma Scots concluded the season with an impressive 33-10 mark, a 14-2 record in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), an MIAA co-conference championship and an outright MIAA Tournament championship title.
The Scots played two games today in the NCAA Alma Regional Tournament defeating Wittenberg University 9-2 before falling to Benedictine 6-0 in their final game of the season.
Game One: Alma 9; Wittenberg 2;
Alma trailed the entire game against the Wittenberg Tigers but the Scots kept their playing dreams alive for another game after two huge innings scoring nine runs in total. Alma was propelled by sophomore Katie McClure (Manchester, Mich./Manchester) who hit two home runs, one of which being a grand slam.
The Tigers tallied a run in the bottom of the first frame with smart base running and two singles. Wittenberg pushed their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth after scoring on a fielding error by the Scots.
In the top of the sixth lead off batter sophomore Erin Lee (Commerce, Mich./Walled Lake Northern) reached first on a Tiger error and then with two outs on the board sophomore Mary Brooks (Portland, Mich./Portland) hit an RBI single up the middle to put Alma on the board, to trail 2-1.
McClure knocked the go ahead runs with a two-run RBI homerun over the left field fence to give the Scots a 3-2 lead over the Tigers with one inning left to play. Wittenberg did not notch a run in the bottom of the sixth and it was on to the seventh and final inning.
Alma gained all the insurance runs they needed and more in the top half of the seventh frame while McClure's dynamite hitting continued. Senior Kassidi Adams (Montrose, Mich./Montrose) started it off with a single up the middle then with a little bit of small ball and a Wittenberg error, Alma notched two runs to push their lead to 5-2.
The Scots did not stop there as they had the bases loaded with only one out on the board. McClure was up to bat, this time answering with a four-RBI grand slam over the left field fence giving Alma the 9-2 advantage and victory.
Junior Morgan Stratton (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) was in the circle for Alma earning the win and improving her season record to 18-6. Stratton struck out a grand total of 11 batters - the fifth time this season to record double-digit strikeouts.
McClure was the leader of the Scots in at bats going 2-for-4 with six RBIs while Merice went 2-for-4 with an RBI of her own. Brooks also picked up an RBI as she went 1-for-3.
Game Two: Alma 0; Benedictine 6;
Alma struggled with Benedictine as they dropped for a second time this weekend to the Eagles, this time 6-0. Benedictine got on the board early, notching four runs in the bottom of the first and two runs in the bottom of the second.
The Scots were only able to generate four hits which was not enough to notch a run against the Eagles. Junior Anna Couture (Posen, Mich./Posen), senior Sarah Collier (Fenton, Mich./Fenton), Brooks and McClure all had one hit in the loss. McClure received the loss in the game to bring her overall record to 15-4 this year.
The softball program will say goodbye to three seniors who have dedicated four years to the program. The senior class is catcher Kayla Merice, short stop Kassidi Adams and first baseman Sarah Collier.
View Head Coach Denny Griffin and the seniors Post-Game Press Conference.
