FORT COLLINS, Colo. – In walk-off fashion, the UT Arlington softball team ended the season with a 4-3 win over the Iowa State Cyclones to win the NISC Championship for the first time in program history.
 
"Our players did a great job of staying together and staying focused," Head Coach Peejay Brun said. "Our player embrace that we're going to do it from the heart and leave everything on the field."
 
Laura Curry, Melanie Mendoza and Randi Phillips earned All-Tournament selections, while Aileen Garcia earned the Tournament Most Valuable Player after hitting the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Randi Phillips started in the circle for the Mavericks, tossing 4.1 innings.  She allowed two runs off three hits before Allie Gardiner (6-7) came in for relief.  Gardiner allowed just one run, giving the Mavericks a chance to win the game.
 
The Cyclones came out swinging, using just three pitches to put two runners on base.  A sacrifice bunt pushed the runners into scoring position before back-to-back hits drove in the first two runs of the game.
 
UTA answered in the bottom frame.  Walton led off with a triple down the right field line before being driven in by Garcia.  The Mavs threatened with the bases loaded, but a ground out ended the threat as the Mavs trailed 2-1.
 
As Phillips took care of business on the mound, putting down nine straight Cyclone batters, the Mavs offense put UTA on top.  In the bottom of the fourth, used an error on a Burchianti hit and a Walton walk to put runners on the corner. 
 
A delayed Burchianti steal home caused a throwing error by the second baseman to allow the tying run.  With two outs, Curry laid down a squeeze bunt to score Walton, beating out the throw at first along the way to take a 3-2 lead.
 
Iowa State loaded the bases with three walks in the fifth inning.  The Mavs tried to turn a 3-2-4 double play with a ground ball to first base, but an errant throw to first allowed the game-tying run to score.  With a runner on third, the Cyclones hit a blooper to left field, but Krista Rude showed off her range with a diving catch to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring.
 
As Gardiner held the Cyclones scoreless in the next two innings, she gave the Mavericks a chance to win the game.  Krista Rude led off with a walk before being pushed to second with a single by Curry.  Garcia stepped into the plate with the next at-bat and hit a line drive through the right side of the infield to score the game winning run pushing the Mavs to victory, 4-3.  Not only did she drive in the game-winning run, but she also tied the single-season RBI record.

"To know that we end the season with a win is amazing," said Brun.