NORTH CANTON, Ohio - Host and #1 seed Walsh rallied to beat #5 Mount Vernon Nazarene, 4-3, to win the NAIA Region IX Tournament. The Cavaliers advance to the 28th Annual NAIA Softball Championship in Decatur, Ala. on May 16-21.
Walsh, 33-10 overall, scored in the last half of the seventh inning to edge MVNU. For the Cavs, it will be their third trip to the National Championships having also advanced in 2000 and in 2003.
Walsh won all three of its games in the regional tourney and had to come from behind in each game. Mount Vernon Nazarene, 26-20, touched Walsh starter Dana Hartings for three runs in the fifth inning on a three-run double to left off the bat of Lauretta Wallace.
Walsh would then continue a trend that they have perfected all season long, use of the long ball. Chelsea Saunders singled with one out in the sixth and advanced to second on a single to left field by Krystal Sherry. Then the big blow of the game, a three-run home run to left field by Hartings to tie the game at 3-3. It was the 10th home run of the year for Hartings and the 41st for the Cavs.
After Hartings retired the Cougars in the top of the seventh, Walsh used a little small ball to capture the region crown. Shannon Spellacy lined a one out double to left and advanced to third on an infield single off the bat of Ashley Hoover. After Laura Schmidt popped out to second, Saunders slapped an infield single to score Spellacy with the winning run.
Hartings won all three games in the tournament and will take a 21-5 mark to Decatur. She fanned five, walked one and scattered nine hits. Walsh's 33 wins are the most since the 2003 season when they won 38 games.
The national tournament format is a 20-team pool play tournament featuring the champions of 13 regions and seven at-large berths. Teams will be seeded 1-20 and divided into four pools of five teams based on the seeds. The top two teams of each pool will advance. This format guarantees a minimum of four games for each team.
The Automated ScoreBook
MVNU at Walsh University
May 09, 2008 at North Canton, OH (Walsh University)
MVNU 3 (26-20)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Tasha Konkle ss.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1
Kristin Kurelic 2b....... 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0
Leslie Banichar cf....... 3 1 1 0 0 0 5 0 0
Staci Graham dh.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colleen Potter pr....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Caitlin Murphy c......... 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 2
Lauretta Wallace lf...... 3 0 1 3 0 1 3 0 3
Kylie Rupert 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 1
Karly Clay 3b............ 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
Whitney Clark rf......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Candace White p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Kristin Eyerman p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 29 3 9 3 1 5 20 5 8
Walsh University 4 (33-10)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Schmidt, Laura ss........ 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0
Saunders, Chelsea lf..... 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sherry, Krystal 1b....... 3 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0
Hartings, Dana p......... 3 1 1 3 0 0 1 1 1
Knupp, Alyssa cf......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
Sostre, Brittany 3b...... 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
Jackson, Kelly c......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0
Spellacy, Shannon 2b..... 3 1 1 0 0 0 6 1 0
Hoover, Ashley rf........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals................... 29 4 9 4 0 2 21 5 5
Score by Innings R H E
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MVNU................ 000 030 0 - 3 9 0
Walsh University.... 000 003 1 - 4 9 1
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Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - Spellacy. LOB - MVNU 8; Walsh Cavs 5. 2B - Graham; Wallace; Spellacy. HR
- Hartings. SH - Kurelic; Banichar. SB - Clark.
MVNU IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Candace White....... 6.0 6 3 3 0 2 24 24
Kristin Eyerman..... 0.2 3 1 1 0 0 5 5
Walsh University IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Hartings, Dana...... 7.0 9 3 3 1 5 29 32
Win - Hartings (21-5). Loss - Eyerman (). Save - None.
WP - Hartings.
Start: 12:25 pm Time: 1:30