KINGSPORT, Tenn.— The Montreat softball team continued its WinWon Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Softball Tournament journey on Wednesday with another elimination matchup, this time against the eighth-seeded Columbia International University Rams, at Brickyard Park in Kingsport, Tenn. CIU (25-24, 14-14 AAC) struck first and never looked back as it eliminated the fifth-seeded Cavaliers with a 7-3 victory.
 
Following the defeat, the Cavs concluded their AAC postseason run with a 33-16 (20-8 AAC) record.
 
A sacrifice fly put the designated visitors in front before Montreat had a chance to bat. The Rams then added an unearned run in the third and a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Columbia International expanded its lead with a trio of runs during the top of the fifth, pushing its advantage up to seven on the scoreboard.
 
Maggie Knight pulled a pair of runs back for the Cavaliers thanks to her two-out, two-run single to left center. The knock plated both Hollie Cunningham and Amayia Hernandez, and it trimmed the home side's deficit to 7-2 through five frames.
 
Cunningham scored again in the bottom of the seventh on Haley Fethke's RBI groundout, but Montreat was unable to fully erase CIU's lead, and the Rams left Brickyard Park with a 7-3 triumph.
 
Knight and Dayton Kell led the Cavs with two hits each. Cunningham scored twice, while Knight drove in a pair of teammates. Hernandez drew the squad's lone walk on Wednesday, and Knight registered the Cavaliers' sole extra-base knock.
 
Victoria Alcantar threw four innings in the circle, surrendering five hits and four runs, only one of which was earned. The senior also struck out one batter. Carter Thornton allowed four hits and three runs in one frame of relief. Jaidyn Stephens and Mykenzie Flores each hurled a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
 
With the loss, Montreat's journey in the WinWon AAC Softball Tournament officially came to an end.