Grenadiers Fall to SWMC in RSC Championship, Advance to NAIA Opening Round

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.V. - The IU Southeast softball team advanced to the RSC Championship game with a 6-0 win over Rio Grande, but the Grenadiers fell to SMWC 7-4 in the championship game.

IU Southeast entered the RSC Championship Tournament having already earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round by winning the RSC Regular Season Championship.

The final day of the RSC Championship Tournament began with an elimination game between Rio Grande and IU Southeast. The game remained scoreless after three innings.

IU Southeast scored first in the top of the fourth. Katie Templeman bunted a run home to give the Grenadiers a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded, Kendall Brown was hit by a pitch to extend the lead to 2-0. Autumn Oehlstrom and Cassi Roman followed with back-to-back 2-RBI singles to give IU Southeast a 6-0 lead.

The Grenadiers went on to win 6-0. Madison Wathen threw her second complete game shutout in as many days, striking out nine while allowing only two baserunners in seven innings. Wathen threw 62 of her 78 pitches for strikes.

Autumn Oehlstrom, Cassi Roman, and Issy Wright combined for six of IU Southeast's eight hits and drove in four of IU Southeast's six runs. Erin Templeman added a double in the win.

IU Southeast advanced to play SMWC in the RSC Championship Tournament Finals. The Pomeroys scored first in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. SMWC added two runs in the second and three runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.

The Grenadiers scored their first runs in the top of the fifth. After Brynlea Bennett and Kendall Brown singled, Autumn Oehlstrom doubled to left center to cut the SMWC lead to 6-2. SMWC got a run back in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 7-2.

Issy Wright led off the top of the seventh with a walk and came around to score on another Autumn Oehlstrom double to narrow the SMWC lead to 7-3. Erin Templeman drove in Oehlstrom with a single to make it 7-4, but SWMC would close the door on a potential comeback to secure a three-run victory.

Brooklyn Gibbs started for IU Southeast, throwing 3.2 innings. Hannah Nunemaker followed with 1.1 innings of work, and Morgan Jenks came in to throw a scoreless inning in the sixth.

Autumn Oehlstrom doubled twice and drove in three runs in the contest. Kendall Brown had the lone stolen base for IU Southeast.

IU Southeast will learn their NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round location on Tuesday.