CALIFORNIA (May 16) – The top-seeded California University of Pennsylvania softball team captured the NCAA Super Atlantic Regional Championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the sixth time in school history on Saturday afternoon with a 6-2 extra-inning victory against second-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan at Lilley Field.

With the win, the No. 21 Vulcans improve to 41-11 overall and will face No. 4 Dixie State (Utah) on Thursday, May 21, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the No. 22 Bobcats close the year with a 38-10 overall record with the three of their losses coming against Cal U.

The two teams were tied at 2-2 after seven innings before the Vulcans batted around and scored four runs in the top of the eighth. Junior first baseman Lindsay Reicoff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) led off with a single through the middle before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. Freshman center fielder Jacquelyn Fowler (Grove City, Ohio/Central Crossing) then followed with a single down the right-field line that allowed Reicoff to score from second. After another sacrifice bunt, sophomore catcher Megan Jahoda (Buchanan, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) delivered an RBI single before junior second baseman Erica Vallecorsa (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) lined an RBI double to right center. Following a pitching change, freshman left fielder Courtney Sinclair (Oil City, Ontario/Lambton Central) drew a five-pitch walk before sophomore right fielder Kaity Finley (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) added an insurance run with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the eighth, West Virginia Wesleyan collected a single and walk with one out. Shortstop Rebekah Honce then hit the ball into shallow right field that forced the runners to hold and allowed Finley to throw out the lead runner at third base. The game then ended with a line-out to third base, as Cal U secured its first berth to the NCAA Championships since 1999.

Junior Alex Sagl (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Trafalgar) improved to 27-4 this season after winning her 17th-straight decision. She allowed two runs (both earned) and scattered eight hits and one walk over 8.0 innings (136 pitches). Sagl forced the Bobcats to leave eight runners on base, including seven in scoring position, on Saturday. West Virginia Wesleyan starter Hannah Vet (20-5) suffered the loss after yielding six runs (all earned) on 11 hits and no walks in 7.2 innings (93 pitches).

Cal U left runners on second and third in the top of the first before second baseman Brooklyn Waddell belted a solo homer to lead off the bottom half of the inning. The Bobcats threatened with runners on second and third and one out in the third before Sagl induced back-to-back fly-outs to left field to end the threat.

In the top of the fourth, Reicoff reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on an RBI double by Fowler. Freshman designated player Hailey Wilson (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy) then followed with an infield single that allowed Fowler to move to third. Fowler then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jahoda to give the Vulcans a 2-1 lead. West Virginia Wesleyan answered in the bottom of the inning with a game-tying solo homer by Honce.

Each team had a base runner in scoring position in the fifth before Cal U had runners on second and third with one out in top of the sixth. However, junior third baseman Natalya Smarra (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) was tagged out in a rundown between third and home for the second out of the inning.

Finley went 3-for-5 with one RBI for her 22nd multi-hit game while hitting leadoff. Fowler finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Reicoff added two hits and scored twice.

Cal U will face Dixie State on the opening day of the NCAA Championships on Thursday in Oklahoma City. The Red Storm (49-7) earned the West Region title for the second-straight year on Sunday with a 6-0 victory over Sonoma State

Notes:
The Vulcans made appearances at the NCAA Championships five times in six years from 1994-99 with National Championships in 1997 and 1998 … Sagl allowed a combined four runs in the NCAA Super Regional, all solo homers … West Virginia Wesleyan entered the weekend with the top batting average in NCAA Division II … Fowler went a combined 5-for-7 with three RBI and three runs scored over the weekend