Day Three Recap

LONDON, Ont. – For the third consecutive season the Western Mustangs have claimed the top prize in Canadian university softball, defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees by an 8-3 score earlier today at Stronach Park to win the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association National Championship.

The championship is the Mustangs third consecutive national title, and makes Western the first program in history to win three CCSA championships.

Along with the win over the Gee-Gees, Western dominated the tournament winning all five of its games by a combined score of 45-8 with wins over Guelph, Calgary, Durham College and St. Clair College.

Despite going undefeated and outscoring their opponents by 37 runs, Mustangs head coach Pete Lemon said that it was not an easy road to the championship.

"It's difficult enough to win one of these [tournaments]," said Lemon after the gold medal game. "We played hard, fought hard, to win today, never taking wins for granted."

In their first game of the day, the Mustangs took on St. Clair College in the semi-finals in what was the closest margin of victory the Mustangs had all weekend and their lowest scoring game of the tournament, with the Mustangs winning 5-1. Stacie Cox struck out three, while Shannon Davidson crushed a home run over the right field fence to score two runs and also scored one on a hard hit triple to help the Mustangs advance to the gold medal game.

The Mustangs faced the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the championship game in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Cox took the ball again and showed little sign of tiring after pitching all three days of the tournament. Cox struck out eight Gee-Gees batters in her seven innings of work to pick up the win. Tricia Mackay was the offensive sparkplug of the final game, scoring three RBI on two doubles for the game.

Monday's 8-3 win also provided a bit of payback for the Mustangs as Ottawa ended Western's 103-game winning streak earlier this season, becoming the first team in five years to triumph over the Mustangs in a regular season contest.

Leading the way for the Mustangs this weekend were starting pitchers Stacie Cox and Kara Stirling who pitched in all five of the team's games. Cox had a particularly strong day Monday, pitching two complete games and picking up the win in both the semi-finals and finals.

"They've been just awesome this year," said Mustangs head coach Pete Lemon about his star pitchers. "They both pitched incredibly well, not just this weekend but the entire season."

Although the Mustangs now stand atop the Canadian university softball world there's no time for the team to rest on their laurels, as they attempt to earn a spot in next year's National Championships this coming weekend when the team competes in the 2013 Ontario Championships.

Day Two Recap

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs softball team showed no signs of slowing down Sunday as they resumed competition on day two of the CCSA National Championship on Sunday at Stronach Park. Their first and only game of the day resulted in a 9-1 victory over Durham College Lords in six innings, and clinched the team a spot in the semi-finals after posting a perfect 3-0 record in round robin play.

Starting pitcher Stacie Cox took the mound again after leading her team to a 7-2 victory over Calgary on Saturday. Cox was sharp in her second starting appearance in the tournament, yielding only one run until she was lifted in favour of Kara Stirling. After the second inning in which Cox struck out the side, she began to lose control of her pitches, walking two in the third inning where she gave up the Mustangs' one run. Stirling did not give up any runs in relief Brittany Hicks crushed a two-run home run over the fence in the fifth making the score Western 5, Durham 1..

The Mustangs dominant offence proved themselves again against Durham, culminating in a four-run six inning including a two run triple by Tricia McKay that would end the game as if one team leads by seven or more runs after five innings of play the game is called. The win gave the Mustangs a 3-0 record, clinching the top spot after round robin play and securing them a bye into the semi-finals.

The third and final day of the CCSA National Championship takes place Monday, October 14. The Mustangs play their semi-final game against the St. Clair College Saints at 11:15 am.

Day One Recap

LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs softball team began the first day of round robin play in the CCSA National Championships at Stronach Park on Saturday, October 12 in dominant fashion, winning their first game against Guelph 16-1 in 5 innings and following up with a 7-2 victory over Calgary to go undefeated for the day.

The Mustangs played the Guelph Gryphons in their first game at 12:00 p.m., taking a decisive 8-0 lead in the first inning. Starting pitcher Kara Stirling hit an inside the park grand slam in that first inning, and backed up her offensive efforts by pitching five dominant innings, yielding only one run on two hits.

Western players Brittany Hicks and Taylor Murray each had two RBI in the game in which the Mustangs collected 13 hits off of Gryphons pitcher Rachel Young. Western's explosive offence and lock down defence were too much for Guelph to overcome, with the game ending after five innings due to run differential, ending the game with a 16-1 win.

In their second game of the day the Mustangs took on the Calgary Dinos in a competitive game that saw the Dino take an early 2-1 lead. Mustangs starting pitcher Stacie Cox gave up two runs, one in the first inning and the other in the third but shut the door after that, pitching a complete seven innings and securing a win with the help of the Mustangs bats. AJ Anstett and Shannon Davidson had a multi-RBI game with two each. The Mustangs took back the lead in the fourth inning with two runs scored for a 3-2 lead. They opened up that lead by adding four runs in the fifth to a 7-2 final.

The Mustangs resume play Sunday on day two of the tournament at 12:30 p.m. in their final game of round robin play against Durham College. Playoff round games will be determined after the results of round robin play.