BOX SCORE Western Oregon 4, Sonoma State 3 -- Box Score

Click here for the postgame Interview with head coach Jennifer Bridges and Megan Konieczka

SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Sonoma State softball team saw its 2014 season come to an abrupt end in a bizarre, heartbreaking way with a 4-3 loss to Western Oregon in the first NCAA Division II West 1 Regional elimination game on Friday in Seaside.  The Seawolves finished with a 38-23 overall record while the Wolves (33-22), the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament champion, advance to play Pacific West Conference-member California Baptist in another elimination game later this afternoon in Seaside.

With two outs and Western Oregon runners on first and second with Sonoma State leading 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Amanda Llerena struckout WOU's Kelsie Gardner, but the ball bounced in the dirt and the ensuing throw down to first base to get the final out of the inning glanced off the glove of first baseman Amanda Rossetta and into right field allowing the tying run on second to score.  Then, the throw in from Ancia Purdy in right field to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring sailed wide and Western Oregon took a 4-3 lead on what should have been a 3-2 score in favor of Sonoma State heading into the top of the seventh inning.

Trying to brush off a wild end to the sixth inning, the Seawolves just couldn't recover in time, as they were retired in order after just six pitches to end the ballgame and leave the team in utter disbelief that the season had just come to a sudden halt.

Sonoma scored one run in each of the first three innings -- an RBI squeeze bunt by Hayley Condon in the first, an RBI single by Aubrie Tolliver in the second and an RBI double by Holli Brown in the third.  However, the Seawolves would be held to just two hits in their final four offensive innings, and while Western Oregon scored its other two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-RBI triple by Amanda Evola, allowing WOU to make its improbable rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Llerena, the CCAA Pitcher of the Year, suffered the loss and finished the season with a 22-14 record.  She gave up four hits and four runs (two earned), striking out eight.  Purdy, Ashley Long and Tolliver each had two hits, including one double, to lead the Seawolves, who outhit the Wolves 9-4 in the game.

Friday's loss marked the end of remarkable careers of four Sonoma State seniors -- Katy Bihl, Hayley Condon, Megan Konieczka and Angelica Mendoza -- who helped the program appear in its sixth straight NCAA tournament this season.

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(Following recap courtesy of Embele Awipi for CSUMB Athletics)

In a game marked by great defense, two untimely errors in the bottom of the sixth gave Western Oregon a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Sonoma State in the NCAA Division II Softball West Regionals. Western Oregon (33-22) earned their first NCAA tournament win since reaching the West Region finals in 2008.

Both teams played great defense early and throughout to keep the score low.

Western turned a 6-4-3 double play in the first to minimize damage after Sonoma State put a runner across the plate. Then, shortstop Melanie Pfeiffer (Reno,NV/Western Nevada College) got an unassisted ground out to end the inning.  Megan Koniecska (Lake Forest/El Toro HS) of Sonoma State pulled off a great diving catch in the 2nd and added another in the 4th.

Amanda Evola (Beaverton, OR/Westview HS) gave Western their first lead with a two-run triple in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1. Sonoma regained it in the top of the 3rd when second-baseman Holli Brown's (Fremont/American HS) RBI double broke a 2-all tie.

The score remained that way until Western Oregon batted in the bottom of the sixth. Facing Ashlie Gardner with two on and two outs, Sonoma State's Amanda Llerena (San Jose/Prospect HS) got the strikeout, but the ball went past the catcher to the wall. The throw to first was off, allowing pinch runner Alexis Jennings (Walterville, OR/Thurston HS) to tie the score. Another missed throw to the plate allowed Destiny Kuehl (Portland, OR/Douglas HS) to come in for the winning run.