Box Score DECATUR, Ala. - The 17th-ranked Trojan softball team's (44-17) season came to an end today, as they dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 6 Belhaven (54-9) at the 30th Annual NAIA National Tournament.
It was the second loss of the season to the Blazers, who beat the Trojans 8-1 on March 13th at the Gulf Coast (Ala.) Invitational.
The Trojans fell behind early, and were never able to get much going offensively. Belhaven scored a run in the second inning, added another in the third, and scored two more in the fourth and it was 4-0 before the Trojans could muster their first hit of the afternoon.
Karli Rush's RBI double in the bottom of the fourth cut the deficit to 4-1, but the
Blazers answered right back with another run in the fifth to push the lead back to 5-1.
The Trojans put runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, and had fans thinking of
yesterday's comeback win over No. 2 Lee, but the rally fell short as they were only able
to push two runners across the plate.
Riley Mashburn (23-8) took the loss, giving up three hits and one earned run in 4.1 innings of work, with four strikeouts and seven walks. Sarah Burns (30-5) earned the victory for Belhaven. At the plate,
Kelsey Lantrip had two of the three Trojan hits, with Rush's double being the third. Lantrip,
Jessica Zawadzki, and
Melinda Patterson scored the Trojan runs.
For more information on the historic season,
click here.
