Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Kennesaw State
Wildcat softball's 2017 season comes to a close
5/23/2017 1:12:00 AM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The lights have come up, and the curtain has closed for the Wildcats.
For the Weber State University softball team, the 2017 season came to the finish line with a pair of setbacks on Monday afternoon in the championship round of the National Invitational Softball Championship.
After a nail-biting win in their championship round opener against Liberty late Sunday night, the Wildcats dropped a tough 4-0 decision to Kennesaw State despite pounding out 10 hits and putting 13 runners on base in the morning game, before falling 9-0 in six innings to Cal Poly in the one-loss bracket.
"It was a great experience to be at the NISC Championship Round and get our first game win last night," Weber State coach Mary Kay Amicone said. "Today we missed out on timely hitting in the Kennesaw State game to be more competitive, and tonight we faced one the nation's best pitchers in Sierra Hyland. She was dominant.
"Today our seniors who have devoted so much time and effort to advancing our championship culture pass the torch to a terrific bunch of teammates. Many thanks go out these seniors who have set new standards in our program and worked really hard to take us to the postseason for three consecutive years. Our team has shown remarkable resilience overcoming injuries and facing a very competitive preseason schedule. I'm very proud of our growth and development with a very young, talented team. We have much to look forward to."
Weber State finished its 2017 season with a 37-22-1 overall record, the most wins and best winning percentage of any team in the Big Sky Conference for the third consecutive year. It's the third consecutive season that Weber State has won at least 37 games.
Freshman right fielder Takesha Saltern had two hits on Monday, wrapping up her rookie season with 92 hits, which currently leads the nation. Senior third baseman KyRae Kogianes and freshman shortstop Sydney White also had two hits.
Kogianes, along with first baseman Sara Hingsberger, designated player/catcher Riana Splinter, outfielder Carley White, outfielder Katelyn Robinson, and designated player Mackenzi Corta concluded their respective careers for the Purple and White. The sextet has been a vital part of Weber State's unprecedented success during their careers.
The Wildcats are 134-85-1 (.611) in the past four years, winning two Big Sky Conference regular season titles, two Big Sky Conference tournament titles, making two NCAA Regionals appearances, winning this year's NISC Ogden Regional, and advancing to the championship round of the NISC tournament.
