MEDFORD, MA – The Alfred University softball team ended its season with a 5-2 loss to #25 nationally-ranked Middlebury College to exit the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament on Friday afternoon.
The Saxons (29-15, 18-4 Empire 8) faced both nationally-ranked opponents in the Medford Regional, having dropped a 7-5 loss to #18 nationally-ranked and hosts of the regional, Tufts University on Thursday morning.
The Panthers (34-9) scored three runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead. The Saxons battled back in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs.
Ally Boulger (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak) hit a long ball down the right field line with two outs. The ball should have been caught to close the inning but was dropped, giving
Kendall Steward (Kennedy, NY/Randolph) the chance to reach home. With bases loaded,
Taylor Carlson (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) recorded the lone RBI for AU when she won a six-pitch battle to be granted base-on-balls and push
Molly Whitmyer (Enola, PA/Trinity) home to make it a 3-2 game.
The Middlebury bats put two more runs up on the board in the top of the seventh and AU was unable to score in the bottom of the frame to end their season. It was a low-hitting game as Middlebury recorded eight hits while Alfred University had five. Only one batter for the Panthers had more than one hit. Steward recorded four strikeouts for the Saxons. Five AU batters were hit-by-pitch as Steward was hit twice,
Paris Guzman (Santa Fe Springs, CA/Sante Fe) was hit twice and
Bella Mistretta (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield Secondary) got on base once with a hit-by-pitch.
Seniors
Brielle Wark (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East),
Destiny Avila (Long Beach, CA/St. Anthony) and
Caroline Courson (Erie, CO/Erie) each saw their final game of their careers at AU.
--Swords Forward Saxons--
