Pride fall short in both ends of finale doubleheader at Grand View

DES MOINES, Iowa - On the final day of the 2026 regular season, the Clarke University softball team was unable to produce a win in their doubleheader at Grand View University on Saturday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa, suffering 7-3 and 5-2 losses to the Vikings.

In each game, one of the teams took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, first from Grand View in game one when they scored in the bottom of the first on back-to-back doubles, but CU starting pitcher Meredith Gatto was able to settle in after that, forcing a strikeout and two fly outs to leave the inning just down 1-0.

The Pride offense was able to get that back and then some in the top of the third inning when a bases loaded walk to Teal Transburg tied the score at 1-1 ahead of Oakleigh Harman's two-run single to give Clarke a 3-1 lead that didn't last through the bottom half of the inning before a two-run home run from GVU tied the score right back at 3-3.

More slug from the Vikings produced the next four runs to take and extend the lead with a three-run fourth inning behind a two-run home run and another RBI double, pushing the score to its eventual final of 7-3 as the two teams produced the exact same amount of hits at seven, but five of the seven hits from Grand View were with doubles or home runs with only one Pride hit going for extra bases in the game.

In game two, Clarke was able to be the team that got on top in the first inning when Harman drove home Kaylie Holtam on a fielder's choice ground ball ahead of a pair of at bats for the Pride with the bases loaded, but the visitors weren't able to grow that early lead in a must-win game.

Grand View grabbed the lead on their end of the second inning with a two-run single then added on with two more in the fifth and another in the fifth more via small ball with another RBI single, a sacrifice fly, and a sacrifice bunt all while the CU offense was mostly shut down in innings two through six before Transburg got her second RBI of the day with a single to center scoring Reece Fleming to make it 5-2 in the seventh.

With those losses, the Pride dropped out of the running for possible Heart Tournament qualification as they would have needed to get to 14 wins to enter a tiebreaker scenario, but Clarke softball still finished the 2026 season with their most overall wins (24) and conference wins (13) under head coach Garland Shirley since he took over the role in 2019.

Fishing the season at 24-26 overall and 13-15 in the Heart, CU expects to return their top three pitchers in terms of innings pitched in 2026 in Gatto, Emma Slayback, and Ellie Flanagan, but will take a large hit in their lineup with eight of their top 10 players in terms of plate appearances in Holtam, Harlee Makue-Vasconcellos, Harman, Kynadee Harris, Olivia Sikora, Hannah Pallzkill, Taryn Hoffman, and Kennedi LeDuff set to move on after their senior season.