Flyers Softball Falls in A-10 Tournament Semifinals, Fails to Defend Title
Gabriel Ward | Contributing Writer
The University of Dayton softball team defeated George Washington 2-0 on Thursday to advance to the Atlantic 10 Conference semifinals. Dayton pitcher Izzy Kemp nearly threw a no-hitter as she struck out 17 batters while only allowing a single hit.
The winning runs came in the fourth inning as, on a full count, Maddie Kapsimalis smacked a single into left field. The very next at-bat, Chloe Wong would blast a home run over the left field wall to put the Flyers up 2-0. Those were the only runs scored by either team all day.
With that win, the Flyers stayed in the winners’ bracket and moved on to face the Fordham Rams in the Atlantic 10 semifinal on Friday.
In what was another defensive battle, the game was once again scoreless heading into the fourth inning; however, this time it was the opponent who found the breakthrough as a single from Fordham’s Erin Hoppe drove in Sydney Wells and then a base hit from Sophie Nesturrick brought home Hoppe and Kate McGuire to give the Rams a 3-0 lead.
Once again, there were no more runs scored for the remainder of the game, and Fordham moved on to the conference championship while the Flyers had a quick turnaround for a do-or-die matchup against the Saint Louis Billikens in their second game of the day.
As was the story for the entire Atlantic 10 Tournament, the elimination game semifinal was once again a pitching duel. It wasn’t until extra innings and the top of the eighth that the Billikens would generate their first hit, as a well-placed bunt by Natalie Sullivan resulted in her beating out the throw. However, the Flyers were able to shut down the Billikens’ next two batters and head to the bottom half of the inning still tied at zero.
Although the Flyers were able to threaten with Emma Schutter reaching third base with two outs and Kapsimalis at the plate, Saint Louis pitcher Isabel Royal was able to generate a routine ground ball to continue the game into the ninth inning.
In the ninth, Kemp stayed red hot as she retired all three Saint Louis batters, giving the Flyers another shot at a walk-off win.
With two outs, Katelin Goodwin drew a walk, putting the winning run on first base. Mickie Shively came in to pinch run for Goodwin and looked to have successfully stolen second, but after an umpire meeting and a review, it was ruled that she left first base early and was therefore out.
In the top of the 10th inning, with one out, Saint Louis’ Karsen Jany turned on a 2-2 count and hammered a home run over the right-center field wall to give the Billikens a 1-0 lead. Kemp bounced back to force Sullivan into a groundout before being replaced by Haven Dwyer. Kemp finished the game after 9.2 innings pitched, giving up 3 hits and 1 run with 14 strikeouts.
Dwyer was able to finish off the top of the 10th by striking out Abby Ulsas, setting up a one-run deficit with the season on the line for the Flyers.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Flyers would not generate any baserunners as three straight groundouts ended Dayton’s season and sent Saint Louis to the Atlantic 10 Championship game.
Dayton ends their season with a 30-18 record and a second straight regular-season Atlantic 10 title. Schutter led the Flyers offense this year, batting a staggering .373 on 158 at-bats. The pitching staff was led by Kemp, who shut down opposing offenses with an ERA of 2.09 while boasting a 14-5 record.