The St. Thomas softball team saw its season come to an end this weekend in Decorah, Iowa, as it suffered two losses in the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

The Tommies defeated Linfield (Oregon) 2-1 Friday afternoon before losing twice on Saturday, 3-2 to Luther (Iowa) and 6-0 to Linfield in a rematch of Friday’s game.

“I think the biggest thing that changed from Friday to Saturday, is that on Saturday we didn’t control the controllables,” pitcher Kendra Bowe said. “We had moments and opportunities to take control, and we didn’t execute. All season we have let teams linger instead of putting them away, and almost all of our losses were by one run. The longer you let them hang around, the more hope you give them, and hope is a powerful weapon.”

The Tommies started the weekend off with a close win over Linfield that came down to the very last play. Down by one in the seventh inning, Linfield managed to get the bases loaded before St. Thomas shortstop Meg DuPuis scooped up a grounder and tossed it over to third baseman McKenzie Wergin to end the game.

While St. Thomas was able to pull out one close win, it was not as lucky against Luther on the second day of the tournament. The Tommies took an early 2-1 lead and held it all the way until the seventh inning, when they found themselves in some trouble once again.

Luther tied it up with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and won in the eighth inning on an unearned run after a Wergin error.

Amidst the loss, Wergin praised the Tommies’ pitching performance in both of the first two games.

“This weekend we stayed composed through adversity … This was due to the phenomenal performance of our pitching staff,” Wergin said. “We just kept our eyes on the goal, and even though the result wasn’t in our favor, we never quit.”

The fight in the face of adversity characterized this year’s team, Wergin said.

“If I could sum up this season in one word it would be perseverance,” Wergin said. “We continued to work hard at the things we needed to improve on, and ultimately, we were our best selves in the last two weeks of the season. We never gave up in any of the 12 losses we had this season, and that is all anyone can ask for.”

Although there was no giving up in sight, the team’s season did come to an end after the rematch with Linfield Saturday afternoon.

After getting down early and finding themselves in a 6-0 hole going into what would be their last at-bats of the season, the Tommies persevered once again, hitting some hard shots in the last inning.

Linfield just happened to be the better team that day.

“Linfield put the ball in play, and they made good adjustments up at the plate. We knew they were a good hitting team, but they also had weaknesses, and as pitchers we didn’t attack those weaknesses in the second game,” Bowe said. “We were down by six with less than three hits all game, and in the seventh, we hit some shots and found our way on to give ourselves a chance. No team can count us out until that last out is made.”

The loss to Linfield marked the end of six Tommie seniors’ college careers. Bowe, Wergin, DuPuis, Breezy Bannon, Annie Boyer and Bianca Peterson made up the graduating class.

Despite this not being the group’s most successful season, there were parts that made it one of their most special ones.

“Winning and succeeding are easy,” Bowe said. “True character is revealed when you lose and your response to that failure. Nothing came easy this year, and all 35 of our wins were a battle. I think most teams in our situation would have rolled over and died, but we just kept working hard every single day.

“This is the first year where we were one team. There was a unity among all 23 of us that I have never experienced before. This might have also been the most selfless group of girls I have ever played with, and I think that’s a huge reason for the success we did have,” Bowe said. “I couldn’t be more proud to say I was a part of this year’s team.”

While these seniors’ playing time at St. Thomas may be over, the lessons they learned and experiences they had will last a lifetime.

“I will forever hold Tommie softball close to my heart,” Wergin said.

Scott Sikich can be reached at siki3549@stthomas.edu.