Box Score
TYLER, Texas – The Lady Cats rallied from down five but couldn't quite overcome the Texas-Tyler Patriots in the championship game at the NCAA Regional here Sunday afternoon as Louisiana College fell 8-7.

LC (30-12) would have needed to defeat Texas-Tyler (38-11) twice to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series but were eliminated from the postseason thanks to a seventh-inning walk-off single by Patriot center fielder Jessie Bross.

Texas-Tyler led 5-0 going into the fifth inning but LC rallied to score seven runs over the game's final three innings and were in a position to force a decisive second game on Monday before surrendering two runs in the seventh.

It spelled the end to another solid year for the Lady Cats, one in which Louisiana College was consistently in the national top 15 despite a rash of injuries that forced constant lineup changes in the final three weeks of the season.

In that 21-day period, the Lady Cats used four shortstops, three second basemen and four first baseman.

It was also the last game in an LC uniform for three seniors, pitchers Rene' Schwartzenburg and Kelly Williams and catcher Amber Thomas, each an All-Conference performer and, according to interim head coach Danielle Price, critical to the success the bruised Lady Cats achieved.

“To come through all that we did this season and to come to this regional, which is the toughest regional in the country, and be in the final game against Tyler with a chance to win it is a tremendous feat for this team,” Price said.

Of her senior leaders Price said, “(They) carried us in the circle and behind the plate. We wouldn't be where we are without them.”

Thomas, the 2011 American Southwest Conference East Division Player of the Year went out in style, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and four RBI.

The Rosepine, La., native, who will spend the summer doing mission work in Uganda, jumpstarted the LC offense with a two-RBI double in the fifth, then tied the game at 6-6 with a two-out, two-RBI double in the sixth.

“The season, overall, has been very interesting, but very good,” Thomas said. “The Lord has been faithful to us … We worked hard all year long and never gave up. Even we were down 5-0 today we never gave up. It took us five innings to do it, but we finally scored. I'm very proud of the way we played.”

Shortstop Brittany Menard, An all-conference centerfielder forced to play out of position due to the injuries, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and sophomore Amanda Martin 3-for-5 to lead the LC offense.

Williams (8-7) took the loss while Stacy Shepherd (17-4) got the win, both pitching in relief.

The Lady Cats' 30-12 final record marks the seventh straight 30-win season for LC.

2011 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
C - Brittanni Hanna (Texas-Tyler)
1B - Taylor Freudenberg (Texas-Tyler)
2B - Whitney Wyly (Texas-Tyler)
3B - Devan Greene (Louisiana College)
SS - Brittany Menard (Louisiana College)
OF - Sarah Beeman (Redlands)
OF - Sarah Finch (Mississippi College)
OF - Michelle Harvey (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
DP - Kayla Uphold (Redlands)
At-Large - Amber Thomas (Louisiana College)
At-Large - Amanda Lievanos (Redlands)
At-Large - Harmony Palmer (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
At-Large - Joey Cronin (Texas-Tyler)
At-Large - Ashlee Johnson (Texas-Tyler)
P - Rene' Schwartzenburg (Louisiana College)
P - Stacy Shepherd (Texas-Tyler)