McNeese Softball’s season ends with a stunning exit from NCAA Tournament

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - The McNeese Cowgirls once up by as many as six runs over No. 7 Washington allowed the Huskies to come all the way back to win their NCAA Regional Championship 7-6 over the Cowgirls.

Before all of that happened McNeese was tasked with trying to beat Washington twice in one day, and things started off very well for the Cowgirls in game one.

At the top of the second inning freshman Corine Poncho would smash a home run over the center field wall to give McNeese an early 1-0 lead, and that one run would prove to be critical for the Cowgirls.

McNeese’s defense was stout throughout the game and their infield play was exemplified in the bottom of the fourth as Reese Reyna turned a double play for the Cowgirls to get out of an inning where Washington nearly scored to tie up the game.

The Cowgirls would put the Huskies away in the bottom of the seventh off of some great pitching by Whitney Tate, who was in the circle the entire game as she finished a complete shutout against Washington.

The 1-0 win by the Cowgirls forced a winner take all game two against the Huskies, and McNeese started that game off extremely hot.

The scoring for McNeese started in the third inning as both Chloe Gomez and Poncho knocked through runs for the Cowgirls to put them up 3-0 over Washington.

McNeese didn’t stop there though as they went on to add to their lead in the fourth and fifth innings as they put another three runs on the board to jump out to a 6-0 lead over the number seven team in the country.

The Cowgirls would hold that lead all the way through to the seventh, but Washington down to their final three outs of the game found some life after only having two hits through the first six innings of action.

The scoring started with Jadelyn Allchin, who hit a double to right center field to bring in one run to make it only a five-run game

The Huskies would then add another two off of a sacrifice fly and a single up the middle of the field to trickle the Cowgirls lead down to just three runs.

Washington would then go on to load the bases on the Cowgirls and down to their last out, Sami Reynolds hit a double to left center field to bring in all three base runners to tie the game up at six a piece.

Washington’s Madison Huskey would then complete the comeback just an at-bat later as she hit a ball to center field to bring Reynolds home.

The Cowgirls would get out of the top of the inning after that and would show some life in the bottom of the seventh as Reese Reyna hit a single to set up Chloe Gomez with a chance to extend the game.

Washington would shut the door on those comeback hopes though as they put away the next three batters to send themselves to the NCAA Super Regionals with a one-run win over the Cowgirls.

With the loss, McNeese ended with a record of (47-16), ending arguably the program’s best season in school history.

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