The Dominican University softball team saw their season come to a close on Friday afternoon, falling 5-4 in 12 innings to the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors on day two of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament.  The game finished as the longest in NACC Softball Tournament history.
 
With the loss, the Stars close out the season 23-19 overall, going 12-10 in league play to claim the fifth-seed in the 2019 NACC Softball Tournament.
 
The Stars staked junior right-hander Cat Klostermann to a 4-0 lead after one. Megan Hufnagle worked a leadoff walk followed by a single for Gabby Curran putting runners at first and second.  Sydney Kuderna followed with a single through the right side that brought home Hufnagle and put runners at the corners. Hannah Gordon then laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring Curran as the first four hitters for Dominican reached safely.  After a groundout and a strikeout, Kenna Pierceall delivered a two-out, two-run double.
 
Klostermann ran into a spot of trouble in the third when a pair of Dominican errors in addition to three Wisconsin Lutheran hits allowed the Warriors to pull within a run, 4-3, while the Warriors' Abby Mahsem settled into the circle, allowing just five hits over the game's final 11 innings while tossing the 12-inning, complete-game.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran threatened to even the score in the top of the fourth, chasing Klostermann from the game after a two-out walk loaded the bases.  Freshman Allyson Dilday came on, getting Mahsem to pop out on the infield to keep the lead intact.
 
Over the final 8.1 innings, Dilday competed in the circle, surrendering just two unearned runs.  The rookie had the Stars one-out away from a postseason victory when she got Davina Gutierrez to hit a soft liner into left that was dropped, allowing the tying run to cross when Karah Ritacco, off with contact, hustled home from second.
 
Dilday gave the Dominican offense a chance, hanging zeros in the top of the eighth, ninth, tenth and 11^th before the Warriors finally broke the tie in the top of the 12^th.  After a one-out single and a walk, Dilday got Mahsem to fly out for the second out of the inning before another Dominican error, the sixth of the ballgame for the Stars, extended the inning and loaded the bases.  Illeana Fierro delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit with an infield single.
 
The Stars tried to get a two-out rally going in the bottom of the inning when Katie Fredrick lined a two-out single to center.  The hit was just the third for the Stars over the final seven innings.  Hufnagle nearly beat out an infield single which would have put the tying run in scoring position but Gracie Wilson's throw from shortstop just beat Hufnagle in a bang-bang play to end the game.
 
Dilday took the loss in the circle, falling to 10-6 on the season. Working in relief, the rookie surrendered just the two unearned runs on five hits and six walks while striking out three.
 
Offensively, the Stars managed eight hits, three for Curran and two for Gordon.