A four-year drought was put to rest this weekend when the Simon Fraser University women’s softball team ran the table and clinched a berth to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playoffs.
It’s the first time since 2013 that the Clan’s program will enter the conference playoff mix, and it all came as a result of three straight road victories to wrap the regular season.
The arm of ace hurler Alia Stachoski played a huge role in the run. The Port Coquitlam native won back-to-back-to-back games over 24 hours, including an eight-hitter in a 4-3 extra-innings affair over Concordia.
The righthander scattered three hits in a follow-up 11-0 shellacking of the Cavaliers, after tossing a two-hitter in a 4-0 shutout of Western Oregon a day earlier on the Wolves’ own diamond.
The grand total for Stachoski’s weekend were three wins and 13 hits allowed over 18 innings, with 11 strikeouts. It couldn’t have come at a better time, breaking a four-way stalemate for the final playoff spot in the GNAC.
In the first win over Concordia, SFU erased a two-run deficit with three runs in the sixth, taking advantage of two errors. But the Cavaliers rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth and looked to win it an inning later after getting the lead-off batter on base. But Stachoski retired the next three to send it to extra innings.
The Clan took a 4-3 lead on a two-out single by senior Victoria Saunders to score Dallas Tilley. But Concordia loaded the bases with two out before Stachoski induced the final out.
To get the sweep, SFU got two-run hits from Tilley and Taylor Lundrigan – the latter with a double – to take an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning of a five-inning game.
The win streak began after a forgettable opening tilt against Western Oregon, where Haley Fabian one-hit the Clan in an 8-0 drubbing that put SFU’s back to the wall.
The Burnaby Mountain crew responded in the second half of the doubleheader, a rain-delayed contest that saw Stachoski reply to Fabian’s performance with a two-hit masterpiece of her own.
The senior pitcher struck out six in the seven-inning tilt, while Kate Fergusson led the offence with a 3-for-4 game at the plate, driving in four runs.
It put SFU and Western Oregon in the mix of a four-way tie for the final playoff spot.
The Clan, 15-13 on the year, open the playoffs Thursday against No. 2 Central Washington, with a win putting them into Friday’s semifinal. SFU went 0-4 against the Wildcats in the regular season. The GNAC tournament wraps Saturday, with all games in Portland, Oregon.
