The Tabor softball team wrapped up conference play with a doubleheader split with Ottawa Thursday night to end the regular season with an 11-7 KCAC record, 17-23 overall.
?I?m proud of my players,? coach Suzanne Unruh said. ?We started 0-6 in the KCAC, and instead of throwing in the hat after that, these girls got stronger and went 11 straight.?
The Bluejays split their doubleheader with Ottawa (9-7, 22-13), opening with a 4-2 win in Game 1. The game remained scoreless until Tabor scored all its runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Ottawa answered with two runs in the top of the sixth, but Tabor held on for the victory.
Katie Henning led the Bluejays with two RBIs on 1-for-3 hitting. Cortnie Killen contributed one RBI. Annie King went 1-for-2 at the plate.
Karen Harris was Tabor?s winning pitcher. Kylie Williams pitched a scoreless inning in relief to earn a save.
Tabor fell, 4-0, in Game 2. In a reversal of storylines, Ottawa scored all four of its runs in the top of the fifth inning. But Tabor could not answer.
King went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Chelsea Nutt had one hit in two at-bats. Brooke Tomten hit a triple in the bottom of the third inning.
Tracie Kithcart, Tabor?s starter, absorbed the loss.
Coming?Tabor enters the KCAC tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Ottawa (10-8, 23-14) Wednesday at 1 p.m.
?I?m proud of their hard work, and I feel good about going into the conference tournament, with a lot of confidence that we?ll do very well,? Unruh said.
The winner will advance to a 6 p.m. contest against the winner of No. 1 Friends (18-0, 35-6) or the still-to-be-decided No. 8 seed.
Games will be hosted at Hummer Complex in Topeka.
