Box Score ANGOLA, Ind. – The Allegheny softball team ended their season in the NCAA Division III Angola Regional Championship Final, battling the Anderson Ravens but dropping a 5-1 decision on Monday morning at Trine University.

Four Gators were named to the NCAA Angola Regional All-Tournament team, as senior Nicole Rodi, junior Halea Hayden along with sophomores Caitlin Nealer and Sadie Stuart earned the honor. 

Stuart led the Gators with a .500 batting average during the five-game regional, tallying a team-high nine hits, adding four RBI and a home run, her 11th of the season that set a new single-season program record.  Hayden and Rodi tied for the team high with five RBI, as Hayden batted .462 and Rodi scatered seven hits for a .438 batting average.  

Nealer finished the tournament with a 2.46 ERA, pitching four complete games and earning all three Allegheny wins while striking out 22 total batters.  Nealer carried two no-hitters into the fifth inning during the regional.

Rodi tallied the lone RBI for the Gators, finishing 1-for-3.  Hayden batted 1-for-2, scoring a run as senior Stephanie Fort along with freshmen Belle Mazurik freshman Allie Landowski each tallied a hit apiece.  Nealer pitched a complete-game for the Gators, striking out three batters.

Allegheny threatened in the first, placing runners on the corners with two outs before George barely missed a three-run home run with a deep fly to the fence in center field.  Nealer threw only four pitches to get out of the Anderson first, capped by a line drive snag by Rodi and a running grab in the right center gap by sophomore Leah Herlocker.

In the third, the Gators placed a runner into scoring position after Mazurik landed a single in left center field, stole second and advanced to third on an error, but was unable to cross the plate.  Anderson doubled to lead off the bottom of the frame, Nealer's first allowed hit of the game, later scoring on an error to open the scoring. The Ravens would tack on two more runs with a two-run home run, leading to a 3-0 Anderson lead.

Hayden singled up the left side to lead off the fourth, moved to second with a sacrifice bunt by George and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Rodi singled up the middle on the first pitch of her at-bat to score Hayden and put the Gators in the scoring column.

The Allegheny defense stood tall once again in the bottom of the fourth, as a deep Anderson double to center field turned into an inning-ending play at the plate after Fort fired a relay throw to George who tagged out the Ravens runner at home. 

Anderson scored two in the fifth and loaded the bases, but Nealer forced a fly out to Stuart to end the inning.  The Gators placed runners on second and third with one out in the inning but were held scoreless by the Heartland College Athletic Conference Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, Sami Frazier.

Landowski singled in the seventh inning to put a runner on base, but Frazier sealed the victory for Anderson by striking out three Allegheny batters.

The Gators end their incredible season in Angola, exiting the tournament after winning their first three games at the NCAA Regional, including wins over tournament No. 3 seed and Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Champion John Carroll, along with OAC member and No. 2 seed Capital. 

Allegheny advanced to the regional after winning the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournament championship as the No. 4 seed, upending top-seeded DePauw on May 3, 8-0, before defeating Wittenberg, 3-2, on May 4 to clinch their fourth tournament championship in program history.  The Gators close the season winning four of their last six games.