HARROGATE, TENN.- The Queens University of Charlotte softball team (28-20) closed their season this afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship. The Royals faced off with Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters (33-18), battling back from a 7-2 deficit to fall by a final score of 7-6.
 
The Royals got a runner across the plate early after Kayla Smith's RBI double to left-center allowed right fielder Kaylee DeJesus to score. The 1-0 lead would be short-lived as LMU answered back with a 4-0 run that spanned the second and third innings. Following the two runs the Railsplitters scored in the bottom of the second, McKenzie Henry hit a two-run homer to left field that put them in front 4-1.
 
In the top of the fourth, Jordyn Thompson's RBI double to right-center plated DeJesus for her second run of the day, making the score 4-2. However, Queens would be riddled with errors in the bottom of the fourth, allowing LMU to extend their lead once more, 6-2. They then scored their final run of the day in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 7-2.
 
Queens began working toward its comeback in the sixth after super senior Gerlea Patton scored off of Haley Nelson's double to left-center.

Trailing 7-3, the Royals' final push would come in the top of the seventh. With two outs on the board, Chloe Linton got Queens going with a single to right field. Haley Hmiel followed suit with a single to the left side, and a double from Patton on the next play brought Linton home to close the margin to three. A two-RBI single from Ashlyn Mickler then followed, cutting the deficit to just one. Haley Nelson would step up to the plate next, looking to keep her team in the fight, but LMU's centerfielder made the catch on the fly ball to end the game.

Jordan Dunn pitched all six innings for the Royals to end the year at 16-12.
 
The Royals finished the season at 28-21 overall and 15-9 in conference play. Dunn, Smith, and Thompson were all named third-team selections. The trio is the first to receive recognition for the Royals since the 2019 season. Gerlea Patton finished the season ranked No. 44 nationally for stolen bases recording 29.