TROUTVILLE, Va. – Charleston softball's bid for their first MEC Softball Tournament Championship came up short Sunday at the Botetourt Sports Complex, dropping consecutive games to eventual champion West Virginia Wesleyan College, 4-0 and 5-3.
 
Today's losses ended UC's 25-game win streak, the longest for any program at the University of Charleston.  The Golden Eagles now wait for Monday morning's NCAA DII Softball Selection Show to find out where and when they will be competing in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region Tournament.  Entering the MEC Championship, Charleston was ranked second behind West Chester and one spot ahead of West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
MEC Tournament MVP Hannah Vet pitched a complete game shutout in the first game giving up just five hits. In the second game, she scattered nine hits in 6.2 innings of work to collect the victory. She worked out of a key bases loaded jam in the in the fifth and then was relieved by Alyssa Shawgo in the sixth with the Bobcats leading 5-0. The Golden Eagles rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh against Shawgo, and Vet came back on to finish things off for WVWC. UC pushed one more across in the inning before Krista Waggoner snatched a line drive at first to end the game.
 
In the first game of the day, Eggleston delivered a home run in the opening inning to give WVWC the early lead. The score remained until the sixth inning when the Bobcats added three more insurance runs, keyed by a two-run double from Olivia Gore. Vet surrendered just five hits in the seven innings striking out three to earn the win.
 
The second game saw UC squander several early chances leading to a scoreless game into the sixth inning. Three errors by Charleston in the top of the sixth helped West Virginia Wesleyan plate four in the inning. Gore once again came up with a big hit scoring two runs on a single up the middle. Brooklyn Waddell added one more for WVWC with a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 5-0. 
 
The Golden Eagles got the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh and Jenna Evans and Bailey Gogia each had RBI's before Toppings laced one right at Waggoner to end the game. UC finished with nine hits and left 13 runners on base. 
 
MEC All-Tournament Team
Abby Beatty (Concord)
Paige Buckworth (Shepherd)
Mallory Chapman (Wheeling Jesuit)
Taylor Brandts (UVa-Wise)
Alexa Hernandez (UVa-Wise)
Laura Ashlock (UC)
Alli Burdette (UC)
Rachelle Toppings (UC)
Anna Eggleston (WVWC)
Olivia Gore (WVWC)
Tori Pogue (WVWC)
MVP -- Hannah Vet (WVWC)