GREENCASTLE, Ind.  – After qualifying for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006, the Kenyon College softball team's return was brief after losing both games to open the tournament. The Ladies' offense stalled after mustering just two runs in defeats at the hands of Wittenberg University and host DePauw University, Friday afternoon.

Kenyon came into the tournament as the No. 3  seed, setting itself up to play the second-seeded Tigers of Wittenberg in their opening game. Wittenberg touched the plate first, benefitting from a walk and two Kenyon errors in the first inning. They returned in the second to score three more on a pair of home runs by Rachel Ross and Ashlee Wright.

The Tigers rode their 4-0 lead on the arm of Ross who also got it done in the circle, earning her 16th win of the season behind a three-hit complete game that featured five strikeouts. She cruised through the Ladies' lineup, retiring nine of her first 10 batters faced. Ross also sat down the Ladies in order three times in her seven innings of work.

Kenyon's lone run came in their final at bat when Meredith Williams led the seventh off with a single to center and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Liz Paterra, but no more run production came before the final out was recorded. The Tigers put Kenyon into an elimination situation following the 4-1 defeat, pitting the Ladies against the top-seeded DePauw Tigers.

Game two took Kenyon down a similar road as its earlier contest where the offense produced only two hits through the first five innings while falling behind early. Maddy Stark (17-7) took to the circle for the second time that day and surrendered three singles to the first four hitters of DePauw's lineup, giving the hosts a quick 2-0 advantage. Sammi Bell extended that lead with a run-scoring double to give her team a three-run lead after the first inning.

DePauw scored one run in both the third and fourth innings to build their lead to five runs going into the fifth. Kenyon got on the board in the top of the sixth when Jamie Samuel launched a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Williams who led the inning off with a triple, but once again the Ladies struggled to move runners along beyond that point. DePauw pitcher Kahla Nolan shut the door on Kenyon to earn her 10th win of the season, 6-1, thus eliminating the Ladies from the NCAC Tournament.

The Ladies finish the year having set a new benchmark in single-season wins (22), reaching the postseason for the first time in seven years and for the first time under head coach Erin O'Neill. Seniors Jamie Samuel, Emily Prehoda, and Hannah Smith close out their careers for the Purple and White after helping Kenyon put together the best season in the program's 16-year history.