DECATUR, Ala. (May 21, 2008) - The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaps became the third team in NAIA history to come back from the loser’s bracket to win the NAIA Softball National Championship, as the Lady Chaps defeated Point Loma Nazarene University 4-0 and picked up a pair of wins over University of Mobile (3-2, 2-1) to claim the program’s first national title and the university’s first title in a women’s sport. The Lady Chaps finish their inaugural season 60-10, and they are arguable the first program ever to win a collegiate national title in their first season of existence.
The Lady Chaps entered Wednesday’s play needing to win three games, facing the No. 2 nationally ranked Sea Lions of Point Loma Nazarene and the No. 4 ranked University of Mobile Lady Rams.
To open the day, LCU defeated Point Loma 4-0 in a contest Sea Lion pitcher Tyler Lent faced pitching problems. She accounted for six of the Sea Lions eight walks issued and two came with the bases loaded in the second inning to give the Lady Chaps a 2-0 lead without obtaining a hit. She was replaced by Katie Nagler, but the Lady Chaps extended their lead in the fourth inning with back-to-back RBI singles from Honda Rodriguez and Raquel Hawkins. Marissa Gonzalez pitched a complete game shutout, holding Point Loma to three hits and striking out six.
The win moved them into the championship round, where they had to defeat the University of Mobile in consecutive games. In the opening meeting between the two teams on the day, the Lady Rams jumped out to an early lead. Following a pair of lead-off singles in the second inning, Jineth Pimentel belted a three-run home run. Head Coach Shanon Hays made a move to replace Gonzalez with Kelly Griego and she pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings to allow the Lady Chaps to get back into the game. The Lady Chaps did just that in the fourth inning with Ginalee Davis hitting a three-run homer to tie the game. Davis followed that at-bat with a solo home run in the sixth inning for a 4-3 Lady Chaps lead. With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning and one out, Davis sealed the game defensively. A ground ball to the LCU second baseman allowed Davis to tag the runner heading to second base and throw over to first to end the game with a double play.
Kelly Griego’s solid pitching led to her starting the final game. She received some offensive insurance in the second inning as the Lady Chaps took a 2-0 lead. Daniela Garcia started the scoring with a pinch hit RBI single to right field and Raquel Hawkins followed with the bases loaded, grounding out to second base to score a run. LCU would not be able to garner any additional offensive support and had to dodge a Lady Rams late rally. A Kelyn Mendoza double to right field in the sixth inning cut the deficit in half. The Lady Rams loaded the bases and Hays replaced Griego with Gonzalez. Facing Decatur native Taylor Lee Phillips, Gonzalez forced Phillips into sending a fly ball to deep left field that was chased down at the fence by Sabrina Hernandez. It was one of four potential home run balls caught at the fenceline by Hernandez. Mobile had a chance to tie the game with runners on first and third with two outs, but a ground ball to first base deflected off the glove of Gabby Woody and went to Davis, who returned it to Woody for the win and the national title.
Hawkins, Gonzalez and Rodriguez earned All-Tournament honors, with Hawkins also receiving the Tournament MVP award. Hawkins batted .500 in the tournament with 14 hits and 13 runs-batted-in. Gonzalez went 6-1 in the circle at the tournament with a 1.76 ERA and 46 strikeouts. Rodriguez was second on the team in the tournament in batting with a .379 batting average, 11 hits and four doubles.
The national title is the 13th in LCU history and the first for an LCU women’s program. The university has eight cross country titles, two indoor track titles, an outdoor track title and a title in baseball. The last title for an LCU program came during the 1997 cross country season.