Iowa Wesleyan softball season ends in heartbreak

FULTON, Mo. — The Iowa Wesleyan softball team was one out away from its second-straight upset victory at the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

A Fontbonne walk-off on Thursday and a Spalding explosion on Friday led the Tigers to a heartbreaking fourth-place finish.

The Tigers’ run turned on a dime on Thursday, as Fontbonne rallied to win the game 2-1 in the final half inning. They couldn’t recover on Friday when Spalding knocked them out 10-5.

Starting pitcher Morgan Christner, who anchored the Tigers to a dominant quarterfinal win on Wednesday, kept top-seeded Fontbonne scoreless for six-straight innings Thursday. The Griffins nearly broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth with a base hit that almost scored a run, but Iowa Wesleyan center fielder Kayla Ford gunned the runner out at the plate.

It was 0-0 heading into the deciding seventh.

The Tigers had two on and one out thanks to a pair of singles by Taylor Johnson and Breanna Mettler in the top of the seventh. Ivy Geerdes scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball, and it was 1-0 Tigers heading into the final half inning.

The Griffins took advantage of two Iowa Wesleyan errors to load the bases with one out. Christner forced a line out to get the second out, but Fontbonne star Grace Paez lined a ball to the outfield for a two-run game-winning single.

The next morning, Iowa Wesleyan played Spalding in the loser’s bracket in an attempt to work its way back up to the championship game later that night. The Golden Eagles scored five runs in the first two innings, and the Tigers never could get closer than a four-run deficit from that point on.

Alex Eyman and Ashley Pfadenhauer each knocked in two runs in Friday’s loss. Christner gave up 10 runs (five earned) over six innings.

Two Tiger softball players earned major honors over the weekend. Eyman made the SLIAC All-Tournament team, and Christner was named the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season.

Webster University won the SLIAC softball title after a perfect run through the bracket. The Gorloks defeated Spalding 12-2 in the championship game.