The Webster University softball team advanced to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship finals, only to fall to Fontbonne University, 2-1, as the Griffins took a title match for the second year in a row from the Gorloks. Webster had advanced to the finals with a 5-0 shutout of Blackburn College (IL) earlier that evening.  Both games were played at Forestwoods Park in Ferguson.

The Gorlok bats had a tough time breaking through against tough Fontbonne starting pitching for the second straight night. Down 2-1, Webster manufactured a run in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to one, but lost a potential tying runner at the plate. Ashley Meagher (SO, Dupo HS, IL), as she has all season, pitched a strong seven innings, but took the loss.

Against Blackburn, Trisha Thompson allowed only three hits while shutting out the Beavers for the second straight evening. It was Thompson’s fifth shutout and 10th complete game in 12 starts on the season. The shutout moved Thompson into fifth on the Webster all-time high list for shutouts in a season.

Webster jumped to a 4-0 lead over Blackburn, with one out in the first, fueled by doubles by Chelsea Schaffer (JR, Lindbergh HS) and Hanna Brindisi (JR, John A. Logan CC, IL). Tabatha Bahre (JR, Lutheran South HS) tripled in the Gorloks fifth and final run in the sixth.

Brindisi, Schaffer, and Thompson were all named to the 2011 SLIAC All-Tournament Team. Newcomers Brindisi, Kristie Konersman (FR, Northwest HS), and Schaffer, were all named to the SLIAC First-Team All-Conference, along with Meagher, who was Pitcher of the Year. (see separate story). The Gorloks finished the season 25-15, finishing in second place in the SLIAC, after almost completely re-tooling the roster after graduation had depleted the 2010 squad.