CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Thomas University softball team fell to Webber in the Winner's Final before also falling to the Fire from Southeastern in Friday's nightcap concluding the Night Hawks SUN Tournament run.
Winner's Final: Webber 9, Thomas 1
In a deadlock pitcher's contest, the Night Hawks and Warriors battled through nine inning 1-1 stalemate before Webber broke the game open with a Mary-Margaret Maggard sacrifice fly.
The Night Hawks (29-21, 14-13 SUN) took an early lead in the Winner's Final, when a Dara Moore sacrifice fly scored Makana Pember in the bottom of the first, 1-0.
Webber responded in the fifth with a sacrifice fly of their own, leveling the contest at one apiece.
Neither team could break the deadlock by the seventh as the game went to extras.
The Night Hawks had some chance, most notably in the both the bottom of the seventh and the bottom of the eighth, with the bottom of the eighth providing Thomas' best opportunity to win the game two runners on.
To lead off the inning, the Night Hawks loaded first and second before an Adreanna Killingsworth sacrifice bunt moved both Averie Sheppard and Makana Pember up a bag to load both scoring positions with just a single out.
A fielders choice then picked off Pember coming home before the Night Hawks popped up, taking the game to extras.
In the incredible extra-inning contest, neither team took out their starting All-Conference aces through nine, as WIU's Pitcher of the Year was matched by TU's Larran Carter. WIU's Kayla Swinson allowed just six hits, while Carter allowed eight in the pitching duel.
Thomas' demise eventually came in the top of the tenth, as five of Webber's eight hits came in the frame, with a sacrifice fly bringing the go-ahead run in, 2-1.
TU's Larran Carter forced a popup in the infield directly following, but an fielding error saw two more Warriors advance home before three more hits opened the floodgates leaving the Night Hawks in a 9-1 deficit heading to the bottom of the tenth.
After the huge offensive explosion, Webber pitched Second Team All-Conference member Morgan Mills to close the game, knocking out Thomas' first three batters to conclude the thrilling 10 inning ballgame.
With the loss, Webber advanced to Championship Saturday while Thomas awaited the winner of the Coastal Georgia-Southeastern Loser's Semifinal.
Loser's Final: Southeastern 9, Thomas 2
In Thomas' second game of the day it appeared that the Night Hawks ran out of gas, with the top-seeded Southeastern Fire scorching the Night Hawks early by jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the top of the second.
The Fire found ten hits in the opening two frames, with nine earned runs coming across before the Night Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the second.
TU's first run of the game was a Tiana Villagomez solo homer, but the game was more than settled as Thomas was only able mustered a two-out, bases loaded situation in the bottom of the third before the Fire shut down the Night Hawk's immediate comeback.
The Night Hawks did show a glimpse of hopes in the fourth to keep the championship run alive but were unable to narrow the Fire lead by more than one, 9-2.
The run in the fourth was Thomas' final run of the tournament, with senior Makana Pember picking up one last RBI on the season, after a fielding error brought Taylor Lanphere in to score, 9-2.
Despite outscoring the Fire after the second, Southeastern cruised into Championship Saturday to face the Warriors, ending Thomas' tournament run.
Pitching in game two, Senior Larran Carter finished her final game as a Night Hawk without allowing a single run in her final 5.2 innings pitched.
For the second, straight year, the Night Hawks lose in devastating fashion, as again it's a loss in the loser's bracket final that eliminates Thomas' Championship aspirations.
For up-to-date information on Thomas University Softball and other TU Athletics, visit www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU Softball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksSoftb.
