KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Carroll College Softball team saw their 2023 season come to a close in an extra innings, 2-3 loss to Eastern Oregon at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Softball Championship on Saturday.
 
The Fighting Saints (20-28) battled back from a 2-0 deficit and forced extra innings, but Eastern Oregon (33-18) prevailed in Saturday morning's elimination game.
 
After a clean sheet for each team in the opening frame, Eastern Oregon put the first run of the day on the board in the home half of the second inning. Kelly Monaghan gave the Mountaineers the 1-0 lead with a solo shot to left-center field.
 
The Mountaineers would double their lead in the third inning on an Addison Ribordy double down the left field line. The hot shot right over the bag plated one to bring the EOU lead to 2-0.
 
Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / FR) would come in and replace Abby Hanley (Las Vegas, Nev. / SR) in the circle, and Carroll would escape the inning without any further damage.
 
Kirsten Norris (Phoenix, Ariz. / SR) drew a walk, and fellow senior Annie Davidson (Boise, Idaho / SR) would give the Saints a spark just one batter later. Davidson ripped a single into left field, and Norris, aided by an error in the outfield, scampered home to cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth.
 
With the Saints trailing by one, Venner took control of the game. The Freshman struck out the side in the fifth and sixth innings, and recorded seven consecutive punch-outs in total.
 
Alyssa Lybbert (Las Vegas, Nev. / SO) evened the score for the Saints in the top of the sixth inning. The Honorable Mention All-CCC selection blasted a solo homer, her second of the year, to straightaway center to knot the game at 2-2.
 
Neither team could score in the seventh, and the elimination game went on to be decided in extras.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Hannah Tyree was able to square up a ball over the plate and kept EOU alive with a walk-off solo home run.
 
Kennedy Venner had a strong outing in relief, finishing with 11 total strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
 
The loss officially eliminated the Saints from the 2023 CCC Championship, and ended a successful season.
 
The Saints will lose eight seniors to graduation next week, but a return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2019 was a great sendoff. The future of Carroll softball is bright, with a solid core of underclassmen, paired with an exciting group of incoming Freshmen ready to return to action in 2024.
 
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