Griffins Rally Comes Up Short Against Rival Webster

ST. ANN, Mo.—The Fontbonne University softball team saw team saw its 2018 season come to a close against Webster in the SLIAC Tournament as the Gorloks fended off the Griffins for the 5-3 win.

Fontbonne finished with eight hits and were led by Melanie Russo going 3-for-3 with two RBI. Maddy Strickland went 1-for-2 with a run scored and RBI, while Alleigh Kruse contributed two hits of her own.

On the rubber, Maddy Strickland left it all out on the field for the Griffins as she tossed 133 pitches in her complete game outing, allowing five runs and striking out four.

Webster got another strong outing out of ace Morgan Mansur, who went 7.0 innings, allowing three runs and struck out five. Seven Gorloks had two hits, including Abby Burroughs as she went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

In the first, the Gorloks got on the board. With two outs, Tessa Johanning got things started with a single to right. She went on to trot home on Burrough's 2-run shot to left-center.

The Griffins, though got one of those runs back in the home half. Courtney Kedroski hit a one out single and moved up to third on Kruse's double. Strickland followed with a sacrifice-fly to right and that narrowed the deficit down to one.

That score remained the same up until the fourth. With a runner on second, Kraus came through with a single to right and Brienna Sheperd was able to touch home to make it, 3-1.

Webster tacked on another run in the fifth, but the Griffins answered in the sixth. Strickland ripped a one out single up the middle and she moved over to third on Emily Cardwell's double to right.

Then, Russo took the outside offering from Mansur to right field, plating Strickland and Cardwell to cut narrow the lead down to 4-3. However, the Gorloks got an RBI single from Casey Cullinane in the seventh and that proved to be enough for the two-run win.

The Griffins close out its season with a 13-23 overall record and eight SLIAC All-Conference honorees.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates on the softball team.