[Softball] Softball Falcons win two at KCAC Tournament before season ends with 5-1 setback to OKWU

Great Bend, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons fought through the loser's bracket with wins over the top-seeded Ottawa University Braves and the McPherson College Bulldogs today (May 4) at the KCAC postseason tournament, but were tripped up 5-1 in the final game of the night to the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles to conclude their 2023 campaign with a 35-12 record, equaling their most wins since the 2016 season.

In an elimination game pitting the tournament's top two seeds, the Falcons bested the Braves 5-1. An RBI single by Laila Spracklen (SR/San Diego, Calif. ) tied the score in the third before Jayden Estabrook (SO/Tracy, Calif. ) and Fallyn Marshall (JR/Syracuse, Utah) each singled in a run in the fourth to put Friends up to stay. A two-run double by Alex Vick (FR/San Antonio, Texas) closed out the scoring in the fifth for the Falcons.

Spracklen won her 18th game of the season, going 5.2 innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts.

Marshall and Vick each had two hits in the win over Ottawa for the Falcons, with Vick also pitching the final 1.1 innings with no runs allowed.

Katie Enneking had two hits for the Braves starting pitcher Ashlynn Mercer going 4.2 innings with four runs allowed and three strikeouts.

In the second game, the Falcons stormed back from a 4-3 deficit with a bases loaded walk to Carolyn Dallimore (SR/Patterson, Calif. ) in the fourth before run-scoring singles from Estabrook and Aleigha Gale (JR/Winfield, Kan. ) sparked a four-run fifth inning. A two-run single by Vanessa Sigala (JR/Carson, Calif. ) and another RBI single from Gale in the sixth put the finishing touches on the big victory for the Falcons.

Gale had three hits for Friends vs. McPherson and Spracklen drove in three runs. Estabrook had two hits and scored four runs, with Dallimore and Becca Dunn (SO/Jurupa Valley, Calif. ) also tallying two hits.

Spracklen started against McPherson and lasted four innings with three runs allowed, with Schwien then entering the game and tossing three shutout innings to pick up the win for Friends.

Mackenzie Egan went 2-of-4 for the Bulldogs.

But in the de facto semifinal game, the Falcons ran into a stout pitching performance from the Eagles' Maddy Wiese.

After Dallimore launched a massive home run to deep center field for her 15th long ball of the season in the second inning, Wiese blanked the Falcons on only two hits the rest of the way.

Raegan Rector hit an RBI single to tie the score in the third and Jess Watson drove in the next four runs for the Eagles with a single later in the third and a double in the fifth for all the run support Wiese would require.

Wiese struck out seven and walked none on three hits over seven innings for OKWU. Rector and Watson each had a pair of hits to pace the Eagles.

Schwien started for the Falcons and went 2.2 innings with three runs allowed, while Vick allowed two runs in two innings and Spracklen came on to finish the game with 1.1 scoreless frames.

The 2023 season will be remembered in large part for the individual achievements and milestones that were set, highlighted by Spracklen, the KCAC Pitcher of the Year, setting the school's career modern-era strikeout record. The San Diego, Calif. native set the mark earlier this season (Apr. 19) at McPherson and now has 490 punch-outs for her career.

The Falcons also put nine players on the All-KCAC team, including six first-team selections. Dallimore slugged 15 homers, just two shy of the school's modern-era single-season record.

As a team, the Falcons were all over the board nationally, ranking second in the NAIA with a school record 48 homers and also tied for second in RBIs (338), third in runs (367), fourth in on-base-percentage (.427), seventh in slugging percentage (.524) and ninth in hits (474).

"I watched this team grow so much this season!" said Friends softball head coach Suzanne Unruh. "As sad as the loss was tonight, I couldn't be more proud of this group. We had the best chemistry and leadership a coach could ask for this year. I'm blessed to be their coach!"