Softball Stymied by No. 9 Salisbury, Bows Out of NCAA Tournament

MARSHALL, Texas- The Eastern Nazarene College softball team suffered a 10-0 setback to No. 9 Salisbury in an NCAA Tournament Marshall, Texas Regional elimination game Saturday.

The Lions finish the 2021 campaign with a 24-7 overall record with the result. The Sea Gulls improve to 25-6 on the year and advances to the final day of the NCAA Tournament Marshall, Texas Regional Sunday.

Jennelle Munoz (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) and Adriana Montuya (American Canyon, Calif.) each pitched for Eastern Nazarene in the contest. Munoz started in the circle and tossed 3.2 innings before Montuya took over and threw 1.1 innings of relief while fanning one batter.

Savannah Sheats spun a perfect game in the pitcher's circle for Salisbury, registering one strikeout in five innings of action.

The Sea Gulls seized a 1-0 edge in the top of the first inning and doubled their advantage to 2-0 with a run in the second as Madi Lemon launched a solo homer.

Salisbury tacked on a run in the third to widen the gap to 3-0 as Maddison Lednum belted a solo home run to left field.

The Sea Gulls manufactured six runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-0. Madeira Alexander notched an RBI base knock to drive in Lemon. Kaleigh Edwards launched a three-run home run and Natalie Paoli hammered a two-run homer to right field later in the frame.

Salisbury added a run in the top of the fifth to push the margin to 10-0. Kat Nashold motored home from first base on a two-out single by Alexander.

Rebecca Hayner (Halfmoon, N.Y.), Alex Schwenger (Danville, Calif.), and Taylor Brandt (Napa, Calif.) all turned in highlight-reel catches in the outfield on the day. Hayner and Schwenger both tracked down long fly-balls and hauled in catches before crashing into the padded wall while Brandt made a diving grab on a shallow hit ball in right field in the second inning.

"I'm very proud of our season overall. Winning the conference and making it to regionals, it's been a great experience for our players and I am very proud of the way that they played as a team all year," said head coach Lauren Clements. "Our team showed that they have a no-quit mentality. We had a lot of energy on the bench throughout today's game and we played with that no-quit mentality all season. I know that this team will carry that mentality into next season and build on our successes over these past few years."