After a strong start to the regular season, the Case Western Reserve University softball team was selected to host the Regional Round of the 2023 NCAA DIII Softball Championship.
The team, which earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference championship for the second straight year with a 37-3 record, was seeded first in the regionals. The Spartans recorded a 17-2 record in UAA play and were looking to make their fourth appearance in the NCAA more successful than before.
The first game was against fourth-seeded Penn State Altoona and CWRU quickly took advantage. After a flawless top of the inning in the first, second-year infielder Isabella Russo kicked off scoring with a double that plated third-year infielder KaiLi Gross. Fourth-year infielder Amanda Riely’s single allowed Russo to score while back-to-back singles by third-year infielder Kaila Nutter and first-year infielder Elizabeth Berry drove in two more runs. Gross came back once more to bat and plated two runs with a single to push CWRU to a 9-0 lead.
Altoona barely chipped at the lead, scoring just one run in the second inning. The Spartans struck back with four runs. Riely capped off scoring by driving in two more runs with a double for the final score of 15-1.
Eight Spartans scored, with the 15 runs being the most runs in a game this season. Second-year pitchers Lexi Miskey and Kylie Hosey and third-year pitcher Jenna Jaklich limited the Lions to just four hits.
With the victory, the Spartans matched the program record in wins and moved on to face Hiram College and the University of Mount Union on the tournament’s second day.
Against Hiram, CWRU scored first after Gross scored on a sacrifice fly from Riely. Hiram quickly responded and took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Carli Tucci’s two-out single allowed Miskey to plate and tie the score, but the Terriers overpowered the Spartans in the bottom of the sixth inning with a 5-run outing. The Spartans fell 7-2.
The game against Mount Union was a lot closer but ultimately resulted in a heart-breaking 3-2 loss.
Miskey wrote herself into the history books in the second inning, becoming the first Spartan in program history to record 200 strikeouts in one season to go along with a record-breaking 23 wins. In the same inning, Tucci and first-year catcher Anna Gobeyn recorded back-to-back two-out hits to give CWRU an early 2-0 lead. Mount Union immediately tied it in the third, taking a 3-2 lead later in the fifth inning. Neither side scored for the rest of the game, and the Spartans’ season came to an end.
The Spartans, who finished the season with an overall 38-5 record, will return to regular season action in the spring semester.
The Spartans were awarded multiple honors in the final weeks of the spring semester, which are listed below:
UAA Pitcher of the Year – Lexi Miskey
UAA Position Player of the Year – Amanda Riely
UAA Coaching Staff of the Year – Head Coach Josie Henry, Assistant Coaches Joe Angelo, Ashely Parello, Nicole Doyle, Sidney Brannam, Melissa Cuellar and Hope Yashnik
All-UAA Team – Lexi Miskey (First Team), Amanda Riely (First Team), KaiLi Gross (First Team), Kela Jagoda (Second Team) and Kylie Hosey (Third Team)
NFCA All-Region Team – Lexi Miskey, Amanda Riely, Carli Tucci, Kela Jagoda and Kylie Hosey
NFCA All-American Team – Lexi Miskey (Second Team) and Amanda Riely (Third Team)
CSC Academic All-America Team – KaiLi Gross (First Team)
NFCA Academic All-Academic Team – Amanda Riely, Carli Tucci, Savannah Gazda, KaiLi Gross, Kela Jagoda, Stevie Rieger, Jordon Manworren, Kylie Hosey, Katelyn Lamm, Lexi Miskey and Brianna Landers
