Game 1 vs. Quincy     Game 2 vs. UMSL

Game 3 vs. Quincy     Game 4 vs. Indianapolis

Game 5 vs. NKU

FINAL UPDATE: 7:18 p.m. Saturday

The UW-Parkside softball team qualified for the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament on the final day of the regular season, earning a No. 7 seed in the eight-team double-elimination tournament. The Rangers faced the No. 2 seed, Quincy, in East Peoria, Illinois, Friday, and lost a tough one to the Hawks, 4-3. 

Then, the run began.

The team rebounded to eliminate Missouri-St. Louis later Friday, 7-6.

Revenge was had against the Hawks on Saturday, with a 10-5 win. The Rangers then took out the top seed, Indianapolis, 6-5.

The run for the crown ended with a 3-2 loss to Northern Kentucky late Saturday afternoon.

UW-Parkside ends the 2010 season with a record of 30-21. It marked the first time the team hit the 30-win pleateau since the 2005 season when it went 32-23. Northern Kentucky ended that season as well, in the championship game.

The following is a synopsis of each game. Box scores and play-by-play can be found via the links at the top of the page.

GAME 1...versus Quincy
The fourth inning told the story of the game at the Eastside Centre Complex. The Rangers put a three-spot on the scoreboard in the top half of the frame; however, the Hawks answered back with four in their turn at the dish.

Krista Kelly reached on an infield error in the top of the fourth for the Rangers. Bridget Walters came in to run for Kelly and advanced to second on a passed ball. After Amy Horn walked, Alyssa Wilson moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt. Stephanie Luska sent both runners home with a double to left-center field, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Luska took third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Meg McCormick.

The big blow from Quincy in the bottom half of the frame was a three-run homer. Two of the four runs in the inning were unearned off of starting pitcher Kallie Walczak, who was eventually lifted in favor of Jessica Bryant. Walczak struck out eight in five innings. Bryant K'ed one in a scoreless sixth inning.

In UW-Parkside's final chance in the top of the seventh, two batters reached with two outs. A strikeout stranded two and ended the game.
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GAME 2.....versus Missouri-St. Louis
Each team faced elimination, but it was the Rangers who survived and ended Missouri-St. Louis' season with a rousing 7-6 comeback win.

The Tritons hit the Rangers with three runs in the top of the first inning off of Bryant. UMSL tacked on three more in the second, but then UWP put the clamps down on the Triton offense.

Horn led off the third inning with a home run to left-center. The Rangers tallied two in the frame, but had the bases loaded with one out and could not score again.

Nicki Ekstrom came through with a single for two RBI in the fifth to knot the score at six apiece. Kelly led off the sixth inning with a home run which proved to be the game-winner.

Walczak relieved Bryant in the second inning and recorded the win on the pitching rubber.

Parkside out-hit UMSL 12-8, with three hits each from Ekstrom and Luska.
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GAME 3....versus Quincy
An unfathomable nine errors committed by Quincy accounted for eight of Parkside's 10 runs in a 10-5 vanquishing of the Hawks.

Walczak picked up the save in relief of Jill Vondrak. Vondrak gave up three earned runs in four-and-a-third innings.

It was the unearned runs on the other side which told the tale.

Holthus was hot with a 4-4 performance including a double and a home run. In the three-run fourth inning, McCormick had an RBI single and Holthus followed up with an RBI two-bagger. Ekstrom grounded to short which plated another and gave the Rangers a 6-3 lead after four innings.

Parkside out-hit the Hawks by a 9-7 count.
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GAME 4....versus Indianapolis
Kelly was the first batter due up in the bottom of the seventh inning and the score tied at five apiece. Kelly turned out to be the last batter of the game as she sent one soaring over the centerfield fence. When it landed, the Rangers had won, 6-5, and Indianapolis, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, lost its chance to win the league title. 

Kelly's heroics were set up the previous inning. The Greyounds led, 6-3. With two out and runners on second and third, a booted ball in the infield allowed the runners to score and the Rangers whittled the gap to a scant run.

The Rangers' only lead of the game was a brief one, 2-1 after three innings. The 'Hounds scored two in both the fifth and sixth innings to seemingly take control.

Walczak went the distance on the pitching rubber. She struck out five and walked a pair. Four of the five runs were earned.
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GAME 5...versus Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky eliminated Parkside from the conference tourney by a score of 3-2. 

Northern Kentucky plated all three of its runs in the bottom of the first inning. All three runs were unearned off of Vondrak due to an infield miscue.

The Rangers picked up their pair off the bat of Horn, who jacked one out in the top of the sixth. Casey, who doubled, scored on the round-tripper.

Each team had seven hits.