As the Long Beach State softball team bid its seniors a home farewell on Saturday’s annual Senior Day, its postseason bid still remained a grim possibility.
That is, until the NCAA announced its tournament bracket Sunday.
The Beach wasn’t mentioned, and its season officially ended a day after it played its final game of the regular season in a nonconference doubleheader against Fresno State.
The 49ers’ (37-20, 17-7 Big West) hope for the Big West Conference title disappeared Friday with Hawaii’s win over Pacific. This left the ‘Niners clinging onto the unlikely possibility that they’d have an RPI sufficient enough to earn them an at-large selection.
While Saturday’s pregame ceremony served as a formal goodbye to LBSU’s seniors, head coach Kim Sowder said that her team had something more immediate to stay focused on.
“I thought [Saturday] was really important because we needed to win [Saturday] to even have a chance to be considered for postseason,” Sowder said. “I didn’t take [Saturday] lightly.”
The ‘Niners did everything they could to earn consideration Saturday, sweeping the doubleheader with Fresno State (30-24, 11-7 Mountain West) that resulted in a 4-3 opening win and a 3-2 finale victory. But the NCAA passed on LBSU, weighing its entire season rather over the final weekend.
For the senior tribute precluding Saturday’s games against the Bulldogs, the jersey numbers of LBSU seniors Nalani St. Germain, Dana Garcia, Emily Gregorio and Brianna Stephan were painted along the outfield grass bordering the infield dirt.
The seniors were escorted by families around the diamond, carrying bouquets of flowers while each player’s biographies and career highlights were announced over the 49er Softball Complex speakers.
Following the commemoration, Garcia and St. Germain added to an already memorable afternoon, as well as seasons and careers, with offense that helped propel their team toward the doubleheader sweep.
Fittingly, Garcia drove in game one’s first run by lofting a double to the left-center field gap in the second inning, scoring Ashley Holmes. Garcia singled up the middle in her next at-bat to collect her final hit as a 49er.
“I wish I could stay longer,” Garcia said. “I started playing softball when I was 8 years old, and now it’s finishing. That’s the worst part.”
St. Germain saved her last collegiate career hit for her final career at-bat. After going 0 for 4 in the doubleheader’s opening game, she lined a single up the middle a three-run fourth inning in the finale.
The graduating second baseman leaves The Beach as the school’s career home runs leader with 30, a record she broke this year after knocking 10 out of the park for the season. She also fell just short of breaking the school’s career RBI record.
“I might think about playing overseas,” St. Germain said. “If it happens it happens, and if it doesn’t, I’m OK with the ending today.”
Honoring the four graduating seniors may have been Saturday’s theme, but many of LBSU’s wins this season, including this weekend, were achieved with the help of some of the team’s youngest players.
Freshman Darian Tautalafua put herself within a home run of the school’s season record after homering in the fifth inning of game one. She broke the single-season RBI record against UC Davis last weekend.
The 49ers polished their season off with a nice finish, winning 10 of their last 12 games and going on a seven-game win streak that stretched to the final game.
The ‘Niners lost only one conference series, dropping two of three games against Pacific in April, which they would have won had they avoided two crushing walk-off defeats.
Sowder said that what she’ll lose with the four graduating seniors is a part of the team’s variety and depth.
“Just a little bit of everything,” Sowder said, “all very different types of players.”
The seniors said they were unsure of whether or not softball would carry into their post-college lives, but they all agreed that the memories and friendships they created during their time at LBSU will.
“I definitely made friendships that will definitely last a lifetime,” Gregorio said. “It’s why you play a team sport. You’re here every day with your best friends and you can’t ask for anything better.”