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CHICAGO (5/12/17) – The University of Detroit Mercy softball team saw its season and run in the Horizon League Tournament come to an end as the Titans suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to No. 2 Youngstown State on Friday night from Flames Field in the Windy City.
 
The Titans erased a 1-0 deficit in the top of the sixth as Jordan Manno and Laura Villagrana ripped back-to-back doubles to level the score. After getting the runner to third base, Savvy Ferstle put the Titans up 2-1 with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.
 
The second-seeded Penguins were stifled offensively by the pitching of freshman Liz Murphy, but a walk to open the bottom of the sixth set the stage for Sarah Dowd, who connected on the first pitch she saw for a go-ahead two-run homer to left.
 
Sophomore Kara Vitale smoked a leadoff double in the top of the seventh and advanced to third on a groundout, giving the Titans two cracks at the game-tying run in the final frame.
 
Cheyenne Willeford hit a sharp grounder to third, but the ball was snared and the senior was nipped at first base for the second out. Facing elimination, Manno battled to work a full count and drilled a liner to right, but the ball hung up and was tracked down as YSU escaped the jam to advance to the championship against No. 1 UIC.
 
The loss snapped Detroit Mercy's string of three-straight elimination game wins, with the first coming against No. 6 Oakland, then No. 4 Wright State and finally No. 3 Valparaiso earlier on Friday.
 
The Titan run in the tournament was the best for the program in nearly 20 years as Detroit Mercy picked up three conference tournament wins for the first time since 1998.
 
Ferstle led the offense after going 2-for-2 with a RBI. Manno went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored and Villagrana went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI. Vitale and Elizabeth Yager each went 1-for-3 to pick up the final two hits for the Titans.
 
With her double in the sixth, Manno ends the year on a 31-game reached-base streak.
 
Murphy was tagged with the loss despite another quality start. The freshman ends the year with a program rookie record of 14 wins – the most for any Titan pitcher since 1992.
 
The game marks the final action for the senior class of Grace Schmeiser, Alyssa James, Cheyenne Willeford and Laura Villagrana in the red, white and blue.
 
The Titans will head to the offseason looking to build off of the momentum and success during the conference schedule and in the postseason tournament.