CAC Softball Championship Opens with Close Encounters, Extra-Inning Thriller
The Continental Athletic Conference Softball Championship opened on Wednesday in dramatic fashion, with two one-run victories, one featuring an extra-inning thriller, at Georgia Gwinnett College's Grizzly Softball Complex.
Top-seeded GGC survived a late-inning push by No. 4 Alice Lloyd College (Kentucky), winning the tournament's nightcap by a 4-3 score. Meanwhile, No. 2 Florida National University defeated No. 3 Westcliff University (California) 3-2 in an 11-inning thriller. This came after Alice Lloyd had defeated No. 5 seed Carolina University (North Carolina) 4-1 in the opening game of the day.
The CAC Championship continues Thursday, April 30, with Carolina scheduled to face Westcliff at noon. That will be followed by FNU playing Georgia Gwinnett at 2:30 p.m. and then Alice Loyd will play the winner of the Carolina-Westcliff contest in a loser's bracket game, scheduled at 5 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament is scheduled to continue through Saturday, May 2. The winner will represent the CAC in the Opening Round of the NAIA national tournament.
Here are recaps of Wednesday's exciting first-round games:
No. 4 Alice Loyd College 4, No. 5 Carolina University 1
Arin Rife helped the Eagles build a four-run lead through the first three innings, with two of those runs unearned, and then the team withstood a late challenge from Carolina to advance in the first game of the tournament.
Rife singled through the left side of the infield to give the Kentucky team a 1-0 first-inning advantage. Then, the sophomore drew a bases-loaded walk that was followed by a fielding error as part of a two-run second inning.
Another defensive mistake by Carolina in the third inning opened the way for the fourth run of the game.
A sacrifice flyout by Stacie Sanders brought home Emily Wilson with the Bruins' lone run in the top of the seventh frame.
McKenzie Orfield, Abby Mayard and Newport each went 2-for-3 to account for six of the winners' seven hits.
Starting pitcher Kinna Justice was strong across 6.2 innings in the circle, collecting six strikeouts and allowing five hits.
No. 2 Florida National University 3, No. 3 Westcliff University 2 (11 Innings)
Carollann McClelland's single up the middle scored Alyssa Julien with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to break a duel between two evenly matched teams that made key defensive plays and got strong pitching performances.
Westcliff took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice flyout by Jasmyn Lara that brought home Alyssa Patlon. That advantage was expanded to 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning on a run-scoring double by Sara Ellerton.
However, the Conquistadors responded with Alisha Lanyon's triple to right field scoring Julien with a run in bottom of the fourth frame. A double by Isabella Silva scored Annissa Quinonez with the tying run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Both teams would go scoreless for the next five innings before FNU pushed across the winning run in extra innings.
Lanyon and McClelland both went 3-for-5 for the red-hot Florida team, while Quinonez added two hits – among 11 for the team.
Meanwhile, Ellerton had two of Westcliff's six hits.
Both team's pitchers had strong performances, with FNU's Sophie White (13-6) having five strikeouts while going all 11 innings and the Warriors' Madison Mendez being in the circle for all 10.2 innings.
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett College 4, No. 4 Alice Lloyd College 3
The host Grizzlies held on for a nerve-racking one-run victory that was filled with key hits and pitches. Georgia Gwinnett finally broke through after being controlled for the first four innings by Alice Lloyd pitcher Arin Rife, the 2026 CAC Player of the Year, who held onto a 1-0 first-inning lead.
A fielder's choice play on Savannah Jenkins' smash to third base brought home Sophie Sisk and Molly Kemp to give Georgia Gwinnett a 2-1 lead. The team then took advantage of a throwing error to take a 4-1 advantage later in the frame.
However, the Eagles came back with a rally of their own, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth inning on Whitney Lippert's two RBI double to right-center field. Alice Lloyd had two baserunners in the top of the seventh inning, with two outs, before GGC pitcher Kailyn Berry (14-5) got Rife to line out to the shortstop to seal the victory.
Berry allowed five hits and had six strikeouts across seven innings. Meanwhile, Rife (15-7) allowed four hits in five innings before being relieved before the start of the sixth frame. McKenzie Orfield went 2-for-4 for the Eagles. The Grizzlies' five hits were spread evenly throughout the team's lineup.