Saints End Historic Season in 6-5 Loss to Midland
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Midland | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
|
Our Lady of the Lake | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
COLUMBUS, GA. (May 27, 2023) – The NAIA No. 2-ranked Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) softball team finished the 2023 season with a 6-5 loss in a close game against Midland University (MU) in the NAIA World Series. The No. 2 seed Saints finish the season at 51-8 overall while the No. 10 seed Warriors move to 41-14. The Saints 51 victories were the most in program history and were highlighted by a 35-game winning streak.
Head Coach Bruce Lenington commented, "The fight that our players showed should make any fan of OLLU proud. The outgoing seniors have left a lasting legacy that will set our expectations for teams to come. It was my honor to watch them compete every day."
History
The Saints were 5-3 against the Warriors prior to the game.
Basics
The Saints lost a thrilling game to end the season on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors started strong with a solo home run in the top of the first inning off starting pitcher Cassandra Valdez. OLLU answered quickly in the bottom of the frame with three runs. Alyssa Flores hit a sacrifice fly that scored Madison Nunn and Ariel Montgomery followed with a two-run home run. The back-and-forth scoring continued when the Warriors totaled two runs in the following two innings. Following the tie, Midland smacked a double to right field that scored one run. Nunn knotted the game at four apiece with a solo home run over the center field wall in the bottom of the third inning. The Warriors responded again with a single that scored two runs to give them a 6-4 lead.
The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless, and the Saints had one last shot in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kayla Dreese pinch hit and doubled down the left field line to cut Midland's advantage to one run. Valdez batted with two runners on and two outs and popped up to the third baseman to end the game. Valdez pitched 2.1 innings and allowed four earned runs. Angela Ramirez pitched the final 4.2 innings and struck out two batters and gave up two runs. Montgomery finished with two RBIs and the Saints totaled seven hits.