NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball closed the 2023 season with a pair of close losses to No. 9-ranked Bethel University. Game one of the doubleheader began on Saturday but was interrupted by weather. When play resumed on Monday, the Royals took the opener, 2-0, and won game two by a 1-0 tally.
"What a way to end the season," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "Two great pitching performances by our seniors—Faith and Hala—against a top-notch team. I'm really proud of this team and the way they battled to the very end.
"I want to thank our Class of 2023 for their commitment to Carleton Softball over the last four years. They have definitely left their mark on the Knights. I wish them all the best!"
Game 1
Bethel 2, Carleton 0
Faith Hanshaw (Sr./The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands Christian Academy) turned in one of her best outings of the season, allowing only two hits on five runs in a complete game effort. The problem is that Bethel countered with Kayla Simacek, arguably the top pitcher in NCAA Division III this season. The Royals' righthander yielded only two hits and walk with 11 strikeouts in this game.
Bethel (31-3, 20-0 MIAC) scored its first run in the second inning thanks to a two-out single by the No. 9 hitter in the lineup. The other tally came in the fourth via a sacrifice fly. The Royals had runners on the corners with none out in the fifth, but the Carleton defense came up with two stellar defensive players—shortstop
Bryanna Schaffer (So./San Diego, Calif./Mar Vista) throwing out a runner at the plate, and a laser throw from centerfielder
Amy Chen (Jr./Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) that forced another runner to retreat to third base—to keep it a two-run game.
Before the top of the sixth inning could start, lightning forced the teams from the field and ultimately led to play being suspended due to unplayable field conditions. The teams returned to Ele Hansen Field on Monday to complete the contest. When the game resumed, Simacek set Carleton down in order in the sixth, Hanshaw did the same in the top of the seventh, and the Knights were retired 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Cassie Cunniff (Sr./Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) and
Grace Colburn (Fy./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) had the hits for Carleton.
Game 2
Bethel 1, Carleton 0
Hala Soliman (Sr./Harrisburg, N.C./Lake Norman Charter) and Simacek locked up in another pitchers' duel, but an unearned run in the third inning proved to be the difference.
Like Hanshaw in game one, Soliman turned in one of her best efforts of the campaign, scattering six hits while tossing her fourth complete game of the season. Simacek allowed three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts as she improved to 29-3 on the season.
With the Knights trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh,
Laurie Avila (Sr./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) singled.
Emma Kartheiser (Sr./Oronoco, Minn./Century) stepped to the plate next and brought the Carleton faithful to their feet with a deep drive to left field. But Bethel leftfielder Allie Fauth-Kilgore tracked the ball down toward the corner.
Avila, Chen, and Schaffer had the hits for Carleton.
Behind Simacek's dominant pitching, the Royals concluded the season a perfect 20-0 in MIAC play, becoming the first team in the conference to achieve that feat since St. Thomas in 2013.
