By Molly Rubin

On the last day of the regular season, the Allegheny Gators quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, scoring an impressive 10 runs in the opening two innings against the Ladies. Already with a 3-1 advantage, the Gators more than doubled their lead with a grand slam that drove the score to 7-1 before the end of the first inning. Four more runs gave Allegheny’s offense an 11-5 lead from which Kenyon was unable to recover.

While the second game began on a more promising note with Lindsay Susolik ’16 delivering her single-season-record ninth home run to score two, the early scoring marked the end of the Ladies’ offensive yield. Allegheny immediately responded to the Ladies’ two-run surge in the bottom of the second, tying it up. Allegheny scored three runs in the following inning, which was more than enough to bring about a Gator victory of 5-2.

Despite this pair of North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) losses, Kenyon still held the prospect of advancing to the conference tournament; however, this was contingent upon a loss from Denison that never came about. The Ladies were forced to close their season with an overall 29-11 record, but went 9-7 in the NCAC.

Although the Ladies’ failure to advance is disappointing, this does not overshadow their strong overall performance this season. “We did a lot of great things, set some records, had a long winning streak,” Head Softball Coach Erin O’Neill ’02 wrote in an email to the Collegian. “Unfortunately, we didn’t win the games we needed to win in order to make the tournament.” O’Neill is hopeful for next season and refuses to let the team’s shortcomings this year deter it from achieving their ultimate goal of winning the conference tournament. She is excited for the development of her players. “Watching them grow and improve over their four years is so much fun,” O’Neill wrote. “I think the players returning will be a very motivated group.”