After surging through the end of the regular season and most of the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Washington University softball team fell to Linfield College to take second place overall in the national championship. The Bears finished out their season with a record of 35-7 and their second place finish in the national tournament is the best in program history.
The Bears gained an at-large bid to the Midwest Regional tournament after finishing the regular season with a record of 28-5 and winning their last 18 games. They posted victories over Webster University (1-0), Luther College (5-0), University of St. Thomas (4-1) and Wartburg College (2-0) to take first place in the regional and advance to the College World Series.
Wash. U. cruised to an easy victory in the first round of the tournament, beating 23-ranked Plattsburgh College 8-0 in five innings. Freshman Megan Fieser led the team’s offense, going 3-for-3 with a home run and six RBI in the game.
Facing the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the second round was more of a challenge. The game remained scoreless until the bottom eighth inning, when senior Jamie Kressel hit a walk-off home run to advance the Bears to the third round of the double-elimination tournament. Senior ace Laurel Sagartz pitched the complete game shutout, allowing three hits and striking out 11.
The Bears faced number two-ranked Linfield College in the third round and won 6-3 to advance to the national championship for the first time in program history. The championship game soon became a rematch of the two teams, as Linfield defeated Eau Claire to win the loser’s bracket in the double-elimination tournament format. This time around, Linfield came out on top with a 1-0 victory in extras to force a championship rematch and ending the Bears’ win streak at 25 games.
Tuesday’s rematch fared no better for Wash. U., as Linfield, the best hitting team in Division III, knocked Sagartz out of the game after two innings and beat the Bears 10-2 to win the national title.
Sagartz, one of Division III’s most dominant pitchers, finished the season with a record of 26-3. She holds the school record in all seven pitching categories and ranks third in Division III in career shutouts (46), fourth in earned run average (0.73), seventh in strikeouts (863), and tenth in wins (84). She was also named to the 2007 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-America team, gaining first-team honors for the third season in a row. Freshman designated hitter Carter Malouf was also named to the All-America team, earning second-team honors.