NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team lost both games of the final doubleheader of the regular season, defeats that knocked the Knights out of the playoff chase. Concordia College-Moorhead took the opener 5-2, then rallied late to win the finale, 12-7.
"Two hard-fought games today," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "I just want to take a moment to thank our seven seniors, who played their last games in a Knight uniform. It's been quite a journey over the last four years. We will definitely miss you on and off the field next season, but you all will be Knights forever."
The softball class of 2022 includes:
Caitlin Chu (Sr./Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph Hill Academy),
Madison Collins (Sr./Elmhurst, Ill./York),
Trina Eichel (Sr./Alameda, Calif./Alameda),
Michaela Jellsey (Sr./Yuba City, Calif./Yuba City),
Brooke McKelvey (Sr./West Linn, Ore./West Linn),
Logan Robinson (Sr./Alexandria, Va./National Cathedral School), and
Alexis Walters (Sr./Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep)
Game 1 Recap
Laurie Avila (Jr./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) smacked a pair of solo homers to account for both Carleton (19-18, 7-15 MIAC) runs. She went deep in the second inning and then repeated the feat in the fourth, a drive that struck the left-field foul pole. This was the third time this season that a Knight homered twice in a game, as
Cassie Cunniff (Jr./Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) did so on March 21 and 25.
Other than the two Avila homers, Concordia (10-18, 4-10 MIAC) righthander Megan Gavik limited the Carleton bats to only three other hits. She recorded 15 strikeouts, her fourth game this season with at least that many K's.
The Cobbers used multiple bunt singles during a two-run second inning, then capitalized on a pair of Carleton errors to score three unearned runs in the sixth inning.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, chasing Cobber starter Vanessa Ramos before the end of the first inning. The Knights add two more tallies in the second inning to build a 5-1 lead.
After Concordia cut into the deficit by scoring in both the third and fourth innings, a RBI single by Avila and run-scoring double off the bat of
Reagan Wills (So./Longmont, Colo./Niwot) gave the Knights a 7-4 lead after four innings of action.
The Cobbers scored twice in the fifth inning, and a sixth-inning grand slam off the bat of Danielle Lyon gave Concordia a 10-7. The visitors would add two more insurance runs in the game.
Gavin came back to pitch the final 2.0 frame and collected six more strikeouts.
Collins was 3-for-4 in the game with two RBI, giving her an even 100 hits over her career. McKelvey (2-for-5) was the only other Knight with a multi-hit game as she concluded her time in the maize and blue with 110 hits over three-plus seasons of games.
