NCCAA
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) won its first-ever NCCAA Softball National Championship after defeating No. 3 Columbia International University (CIU) 7-4.
The Lions trailed 3-0 after the second inning, but climbed back into the game in the fourth, as Rosie Guadarrama and Illeana Salinas each had RBI-singles to make it 3-2. Airiana Magdaleno tied it up in the third with an RBI-single that scored Alana Ortega. In the sixith inning, SAGU would tack on 2 more runs before Maddie Watson crushed a 2-run home run to make it 7-4. In the circle, Ashlyn Teran picked up the win in relief, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 batters.
SAGU opened pool play with a 9-8 loss against No. 7 Arlington Baptist University (ABU), losing in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning. The No. 2 seeded Lions bounced back with a 6-4 win over No. 6 Hannibal-LaGrange University, led by Kassandra Vargas who cranked a home run and drove in two runs. SAGU then defeated CIU 6-5, as Salinas went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI’s and 1 run scored. The Lions finished 2-1 in pool play and advanced to the semifinals after a 6-5 win over ABU in a pool play tiebreaker game.
In the semifinal matchup against No. 1 Mid-America Christian University, the Lions came out strong as Teran hit a grand slam in the first inning. SAGU would go on to win 5-2 as Teran picked up the win on the mound, allowing 6 hits and striking out 7 batters.
The Lions’ Rosie Guadarrama was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.