The University of Mary Washington softball team continued to excel as one of the top teams in the Capital Athletic Conference in 2008, advancing to the conference championship en route to a 25-win season. The Eagles, under 21st-year head coach Dee Conway, continued to solidify its position among the top teams in the region.
The Eagles started 2008 with great hopes, as All-Capital Athletic Conference pitcher Kirsten Rowell led a talented group of returnees, including all-conference selection Ashley Sifer and top run producers Cathy Hull, Kerri Spaulding, and Kaitlin Petrella. After a slow start in which the Eagles split their opening eight games, the team rallied to win seven of its next nine, including five wins in Florida over spring break.
UMW opened play in the Capital Athletic Conference with a doubleheader sweep of Wesley College in a pair of five inning contests, 9-1 and 13-0. After splitting a nonconference twin bill with Catholic University, UMW took a pair from Villa Julie College in conference play, winning 9-1 and 14-5. The Eagles dropped doubleheaders at Christopher Newport and York, with pairs of wins coming at Gallaudet and Hood College in conference play. From there, the Eagles split with Virginia Wesleyan College and Salisbury University, with Rowell pitching gems in each contest.
UMW opened play in the CAC Tournament with a thrilling come from behind win over Villa Julie, as Sarah Axelson collected a pair of hits and drove in the game winner in a 3-2 victory. With her team seeded third in the tournament, Rowell delivered another gem to defeat second seeded York, 5-0, in the second round as the Eagles rapped out 10 hits and allowed only three in the game. UMW then faced top-seeded Salisbury on the road in to kickoff the weekend portion of the tournament and fell by the narrowest of margins, 4-3, in extra innings. The Eagles rebounded with another 3-2 win over Villa Julie before falling to the Sea Gulls in the championship round.
Rowell earned repeat All-Capital Athletic Conference honors, as she finished with an 18-10 record in 32 appearances with two saves. She allowed 159 hits in 190 innings, with 50 walks and a school record 172 strikeouts, and posted an earned run average of 1.84. Hull also gained all-conference honors after batting a team-best .394, with 50 hits, including 10 doubles, four triples, and a home run, as well as 39 runs scored and 18 RBI. She also was successful in all 12 of her stolen base attempts.
Sophomore shortstop Petrella already has her name in the school’s record book, as her eight home runs broke the season home run record and her 13 in two seasons set the career record. She hit .387 with a team-high 18 extra base hits and 31 RBI. Ashley Sifer repeated as a first team all-conference performer, batting .331 with nine doubles and a home run, driving in 19 runs and scoring 30. She also provided quality defense at the hot corner, sporting a .944 fielding percentage with just six errors in 40 games played.
The Eagles were led on and off the field by a strong senior class, including Sifer, outfielders Kerri Spaulding, Melissa Bjorklund, and Jamie Clevenger, and Axelson behind the plate. Spaulding and Clevenger, who were four-year starters in the outfield, provided quality defense in addition to timely hitting that produced a combined 16 extra base hits, 46 runs scored, and 46 RBI. Axelson hit .276 as one of four who played in every game of the season and came up with clutch hit after clutch hit, as she provided the game-winning RBI in six games in the Eagles’ final at bat.