TROUTVILLE, W. VA. – No. 11 University of Charleston Softball (45-4, 27-3 MEC) sweeps the Mountain East Conference Tournament and defeats Davis & Elkins College (31-25, 14-16 MEC) by a score of 7-2 on Championship Saturday to earn the MEC Tournament Championship title. This is the second year in a row and the second time in program history that UC has won the tournament. With this win, Brianna McCown (30-3) notches her 30^th victory of the season.
 
The Basics:
Location: Botetourt Softball Complex
Score: 7-2 (W)
 
How it Happened:
McCown got two quick outs by a pair of fly outs to start the game, by a two-out single and a walk put a runner in scoring position for the Senators. This did not shake the steady right hander though, as she went on to get the final out via the strikeout on a 2-2 count.
 
Offensively, Charleston started off strong, scoring their first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Hannah Rose led it off with a walk and quickly found herself in scoring position after she swiped second on a passed ball. Junior Isabella Andujar followed up Rose's walk with a single to left field to put runners at the corners for UC. Graduate Student Allysa Lake then went on to also single through the left side to plate Rose and make the score 1-0, UC. That was all the Golden Eagles were able to get that inning though, as the Senators go outs one, two and three on a two strikeouts and a fielder's choice.
 
The Golden Eagles lead the country in fielding percentage, and they continued to show out on the diamond today. The second was a one-two-three inning for McCown with the first two outs being ground balls to first and short and the final out being a fly ball to right field. McCown continued to mow down the Senators until they managed to knot the game at one in the fourth inning on a pair of two-out doubles. She stopped the bleeding though and got the final out on a fly ball to center fielder Allison Rubal.
 
Charleston responded to Davis & Elkins' scoring by notching four more runs in their half of the fourth inning. Rubal got the offense going again by leading it off with a single through the right side. College of Central Florida transfer Hannah Meyer then hit a bullet back to the pitcher and legged out a single to put two runners on for UC with no outs. Raegan West then laid down a perfect bunt-single to load the bases for Brittny Ogg. Ogg then sent one up the middle to plate Rubal and Meyer. The Senators finally got an out on the next play, but Andujar drew a walk to put another runner in scoring position for the Golden Eagles. A fly out to center field is how D&E got the second out, but bloop single to left field scored two more runs for Charleston to make the score 5-1. The Senators got an out on the play though after a Golden Eagle was caught taking too big of a turn at second. 
 
Davis & Elkins got another two-out hit in the top of the fifth inning, but they were unable to bring her home, as McCown kept throwing heat. Charleston, on the other hand, picked up two more runs on two hits in their half of the inning. Saint Leo University transfer Bianca Polistina drew walk on a full count to lead off the fifth. Rubal then advanced Polistina to second on a textbook sacrifice bunt. Meyer then singled down the right field line to put runners at the corners before she swiped second on the next pitch. A clutch double off the bat of West tallied two more runs for Charleston, making the score 7-1.
 
The top of the sixth inning got a little interesting for the Golden Eagles, as the Senators picked up three hits and scored a run in the inning. With one out, they loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before plating their second and last run of the game on a single up the middle. The last two outs came on a strikeout and a ball blistered to the shortstop in Rose.
 
McCown started the seventh inning with a pair of fly outs to right field. With just one out remaining in the game, a Senator reached first on an error by second. However, a ground ball to Rose ended the game and handed the Golden Eagles their second MEC Tournament Championship title in a row and in program history.
 
Junior Raegan West led the offense, as she went 3-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Also producing at the plate was Lindsey Phares and Allysa Lake. Phares went 1-4 with two RBIs, while Lake went 3-4 with an RBI. 
 
Up Next:
University of Charleston Softball awaits the NCAA Division II Selection Show that will be held on Monday, May 6 at 10am Eastern Time. This event will determine the seeding and locations for regionals which will begin on Thursday, May 9. Last year, the Golden Eagles hosted and came from behind in the Atlantic Regional to defeat Shippensburg University and advance to the Atlantic Super Regional.