Norah Gillam

The Tiger softball team came up big over the weekend, winning three straight games to capture the 2003 North Coast Athletic Conference softball championship at Denison. The clincher came Saturday as the Tigers, the No. 2 seed after finishing second in the regular season, upended two-time defending champion and No. 1 seed Denison 2-1 in the championship game.

The Tigers have even greater mountains to climb this week as they head into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in school history. Wittenberg will play in the Great Lakes Regional of the tourney hosted by nationally ranked Muskingum in New Concord, Ohio, along with the top-seeded host team, ninth-ranked No. 3 seed Bethany, 10th-ranked No. 2 seed Alma, fourth-seeded Wittenberg and No. 5 seed Cabrini. Game 1 will feature Wittenberg and Cabrini at 11 a.m. Friday with the winner advancing to face Muskingum at 3 p.m. and the loser dropping into an elimination game at 5 p.m.

The Tigers head into the tourney with an overall record of 24-19. Cabrini is the champion of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference and carries a 33-6 overall record. In Fridays NCAC Tournament opener, Wittenberg defeated No. 4 seed Allegheny 5-2 behind the outstanding pitching and hitting of sophomore Norah Gillam (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield). In the second game of the day, the Tigers defeated No. 4 seed Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 in nine innings as junior Kristen Hillebrand (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Jen Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) hurled a masterful shutout complete game victory. In Saturdays title game, Gillam was again outstanding on the mound and senior Beth Walters (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) delivered a two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game and send the Tigers into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000.

Four Tiger players were named to the 2003 NCAC All-Tournament Team: Walters, Gillam, junior outfielder Carmen Montgomery (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) and sophomore second baseman Katie Niemeyer (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay). Gillam was named Most Outstanding Player.