After dropping three contests to the defending A-10 champions last weekend at Fordham, GW (25-23, 7-14 A-10) completed a series sweep of Rhode Island (3-41, 1-21 A-10) with a 7-6 walk-off victory in its final game of the regular season Sunday.
“Last weekend was tough. Our pitchers were wearing thin from the whole season so we gave them a complete week off. I said ‘no throwing,’ and we practically put a lock on the gym door,” head coach Stacey Schramm said. “They just came out [this weekend] and it was awesome. I think they kind of just knew we were going to do this for our seniors, it was great.”
On Saturday morning, freshman starting pitcher Sarah Costlow would throw a complete game in a 7-2 victory to begin the series, recording her 15th win of the year. Sophomore pitcher Paige Kovalsky followed suit in the nightcap and got some help from the Colonials bats to beat their A-10 foe 12-4 in six innings.
The team also honored its three graduating seniors Saturday on Senior Day at the Mount Vernon Campus. Catcher Samantha Dos Santos, shortstop Tori Valos and outfielder McKinley Tretler were all recognized prior to the doubleheader.
“McKinley Tretler, she’s the most positive and most team-oriented person I know,” Schramm said. “And Tori and [Dos Santos], I don’t know what it was like before they got here, I coached a year without them, and I don’t really know what life is going to be like after. They’re part of my career here and I feel like somebody just ripped my arm off.”
While Tretler only saw 10 at-bats this season, Dos Santos and Valos guided the Colonials both offensively and defensively. This season, Dos Santos broke the all-time record for putouts, finishing with a program-best 940, and made the most appearances in program history at 200. She also hit .268 on the year, tallying 30 hits, 21 RBI and 31 runs.
Valos added yet another record to her already historic career with her 203rd career hit Saturday. An RBI triple by the shortstop helped her surpass two-time Olympic bobsled medalist Elana Meyers Taylor to become the program’s all-time career hits leader. Valos concluded her career with a program-best 206 hits, 139 runs, 51 doubles, 34 home runs and 170 RBI, while posting a .358 batting average on the season.
“I think a lot of it has to do with my teammates taking a lot of pressure off of me,” Valos said. “Over the years I’ve had some great teammates who have always done their jobs perfectly, and I kind of just look up to them and want to do it for them.”
With two wins in the books for GW, the Rams came out strong Sunday to try and avoid the sweep. With Costlow starting on the mound, the Colonials gave up two runs on two hits and one error in the top of the first.
But the GW bats responded in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own, as Valos belted a two-run homer to center field, good for her eighth on the season. Costlow would give up one run in the second, but another GW home run, this time a solo-shot to left from junior third baseman Morgan Matetic, tied it up at three.
Costlow held Rhode Island scoreless in the next three innings while runs brought home by sophomore Monica Macchiarulo, Matetic and Dos Santos in the fifth and sixth gave the Colonials a three-run cushion heading into the top of the seventh. But the Rams would not go down easily, tying the game in the final inning and forcing GW to bat once more.
With two outs and sophomore Marissa Mangini on third, Valos was intentionally walked. And that was all the Colonials needed, as Valos stole second during the next at bat to distract the Rams from Mangini, who successfully stole home to win the contest 7-6.
“I just remember coach giving me the sign, telling me to be smart, and I knew there was two outs so I was just thinking I don’t want to be the last out,” Valos said. “When I stole I was just hoping something would happen and [Mangini] did an amazing job. With her speed nobody can get her out.”
Costlow’s 16th win set a new program record for victories in a single season, which helped the Colonials record their third 25-win season in program history and finish with a seven-game home win-streak.
Despite finishing above .500 with an overall record of 25-23, a subpar 7-14 A-10 campaign and ninth-place A-10 finish left GW out of postseason play for the second straight season.
