Judson earns share of 1st conference title

It’s been seven years in the making for coach Becky Stenning and the Judson University softball program, but the Eagles can finally say it:

They’re conference champs.

Sam Gladen won her 12th game of the season and Sarah Boyer her 10th Monday as Judson swept Trinity International 14-6 and 3-1 in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Judson.

The two wins assure the Eagles of no worse than a tie for the CCAC regular-season championship, the first conference title in the history of the school’s softball program.

“I’m just so happy and so proud of all these girls,” said Stenning, who got her first postgame water cooler drenching on the cold and rainy day in Elgin.

“I knew at the beginning of the season we had a good team and could go places. These girls have just put it all together and made it happen. It’s about time. We’ve all worked hard for this.”

The wins also gave Judson 31 for the season overall, tying last year’s mark for most wins in a season.

In Game 1 of Monday’s sweep, senior leaders Nicole Dimicel (3 RBI) and Carrie Sensor (2 RBI) led the way for Judson. Emily England (4 RBI), Dimiceli and Erin Stankus each had home runs.

In the nightcap, Boyer registered a career-high 12 strikeouts, while Hallie Niewold, Sensor and Haley Secor each drove in runs.

Judson (31-13, 14-4) will now wait to see if someone can knock off St. Xavier and Olivet Nazarene this week, which would give the Eagles the title outright. St. Xavier and Olivet each have 4 losses in the CCAC as well. Judson’s conference season is complete while St. Xavier and Olivet each have league games to complete.

The Eagles will host a nonconference doubleheader against Carthage College next Monday, then head to St. Xavier on May 5 for the first round of the CCAC tournament. The tournament champion gets an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., the week of May 17.

Stenning said she’s also optimistic that her team will get an at-large bid to the National Christian College Athletic Association national tournament in Boutetort County, Va., May 12-14.