Kansas City, MO – SAGU won its first-ever NCCAA Softball National Championship after defeating No. 3
Columbia International University (CIU) 7-4. The Lady Lions trailed 3-0 after the second inning, but climbed back into the game in the fourth, as
Rosie Guadarrama and
Illeana Salinas each had RBI-singles to make it 3-2.
Airiana Magdaleno tied it up in the third with an RBI-single that scored
Alana Ortega. In the sixth inning, SAGU would tack on 2 more runs before
Maddie Watson crushed a 2-run home run to make it 7-4. In the circle,
Ashlyn Teran picked up the win in relief, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 batters.
SAGU opened pool play with a 9-8 loss against No. 7
Arlington Baptist University (ABU), losing in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning. The No. 2 seeded Lady Lions bounced back with a 6-4 win over No. 6
Hannibal-LaGrange University, led by
Kassandra Vargas who cranked a home run and drove in two runs. SAGU then defeated CIU 6-5, as Salinas went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI's and 1 run scored. The Lions finished 2-1 in pool play and advanced to the semifinals after a 6-5 win over ABU in a pool play tiebreaker game. In the semifinal matchup against No. 1 Mid-America Christian University, the Lions came out strong as Teran hit a grand slam in the first inning. SAGU would go on to win 5-2 as Teran picked up the win on the mound, allowing 6 hits and striking out 7 batters.
SAGU's
Rosie Guadarrama was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player after crushing four homeruns in her six games played throughout the World Series. The All-Tournament Team and other awards are listed
here.
Full results with box scores are posted
here.
As a leading Christian university, SAGU educates and prepares individuals who want to serve Christ and others. SAGU helps students discover and develop their God-given callings in a Spirit-empowered, learning community. We believe in affordable tuition, made possible in part through the financial support of donors who embrace the mission of SAGU and the importance of affordable, accredited programs to train Christians for leadership in ministry, business, education, and service. Most majors are available in-person in Waxahachie, TX, and online through a wide range of associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
