HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Softball team is postseason bound for the first time since 2019 after completing a four game sweep of Bushnell to end the 2023 regular season.
The Fighting Saints (20-26, 13-17) came into Saturday knowing the ball was in their court, and they found a way to handle their business, defeating Bushnell (11-37, 7-23) 5-4 and 8-0 to wrap up the regular season
A win in ther first game of the day would guarantee a return to the CCC tournament for the Saints, and a late inning rally would seal the deal.
Kaitlynn Ayers (Twin Falls, Idaho / JR) opened the scoring with a 2 RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to put Carroll up 2-0.
Bushnell would find its first run of the game in the fourth inning when a wild pitch allowed Madison Steelman to take home, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Carroll responded in the bottom half of the fourth.
Annie Davidson ripped a double to the fence in left-center to score one, and extend the Carroll lead back to two, 3-1.
In the sixth inning, Bushnell would string a number of hits together, eventually scoring three runs to take a 4-3 lead. Hannah Tennant, Faith Wayman, and Bryana Yoshida all picked up RBI singles to give the Beacons the late game lead.
The Saints were not to be denied, however, and would respond in the home half of the sixth.
Aided by an error and a passed ball,
Ellie Koerber (Billings, Mont. / SO) stood on second and Ayers stood on third with
Haley Kampka (Stevensville, Mont. / SR) at the plate. Kampka, playing in her final home series, drove in Ayers to even things up at 4-4.
Sammie Labrum (Kalispell, Mont. / FR) provided a huge pinch hit sacrifice fly, scoring Koerber and putting Carroll back on top 5-4.
Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / FR) came in and struck out the side in the seventh, securing the 5-4 win and sending Carroll to the CCC tournament.
Ayers led the way offensively, finishing 3-3 with two RBI and one run scored for the Saints.
The afternoon non-conference matchup was a pitchers duel until the fourth inning, when Carroll broke the game wide open.
Carroll scored six runs in an explosive fourth inning rally.
Jessica Nimmo (Las Vegas, Nev. / SR), playing in her final game at Centennial Park, capped the rally with a two run no-doubter to dead-away center field.
Alyssa Lybbert (Las Vegas, Nev. / SO) added an RBI triple in the sixth inning to make things 7-0 before Kampka once again came up clutch, singling to bring her home and run-rule the Beacons.
Abbie Amend (Spokane, Wash. / FR) and
Abby Hanley (Las Vegas, Nev. / SR) combined for a nine-strikeout, two-hit shut out.
Carroll will now turn their attention to an opening round contest against the No. 3 seed (yet to be determined) at 11:30 a.m. (PDT) on Friday.
Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of the CCC tournament, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
