Athletics · May 11, 2026
Softball Falls 4–3 in Conference Final After a Walk-Off Semifinal Win
The Ironclads hosted a tournament pod at Red Cedar Diamond, won the semifinal on a two-out bunt single, and finished the season 29–13.
Ironclad softball’s season ended Sunday with a 4–3 loss in the Wesconsin Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game, one day after a walk-off win in the semifinal that the 612 fans at Red Cedar Diamond will be describing for a while.
The Ironclads, the No. 2 seed, hosted one of the tournament’s two pods and swept through it on Friday. In Saturday’s semifinal they trailed 2–1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and runners on second and third when sophomore Gracie Thielen laid down a bunt single toward third base. The throw was late, the tying run scored, and the trailing runner — senior Jada Holcomb, who had been running on contact — never stopped, sliding home ahead of the relay for a 3–2 win.
Sunday’s final against the top seed was tied 3–3 into the eighth before a two-out double gave the opponents the lead for good. The Ironclads put the tying run on second in the bottom half but could not bring her home.
“I asked them in February to play like the last out was the only one that counted. They did that for forty-two games. Losing a final in extra innings is the kind of loss you only get to have if you were very good.”
— Chuck Running, director of athletics
Season notes
- The 29–13 record matches the second-most wins in program history.
- Junior pitcher Kenzie Albrecht finished with a 1.84 ERA, 171 strikeouts and four of the staff’s six shutouts; she was named first-team all-conference.
- The team’s spring GPA was 3.38, and eight players were named to the conference all-academic list.
The Ironclads were not selected for an at-large NCAA Division III bid when the field was announced Monday. Four seniors graduate; the rest of the roster returns in 2027, the last spring before the move to a new conference. Schedules, rosters and summer camp information are on the softball team page and the athletics site, and youth players can sign up for June sports camps run by the softball staff.
Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The games, scores, players and that bunt single are invented; no real conference tournament is described.