TURLOCK, Calif. – Robyn Mogavero's two-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh capped off an incredible four-run inning for the Clan as Simon Fraser University completes a thrilling comeback against the Academy of Art University on the final day of the Tournament of Champions.
 
"It was a lesson of stealing victory from the jaws of defeat – our opponent really deserved a better fate as they out played us for all but perhaps the last inning," said Clan head coach Mike Renney.
 
Earlier in the day, SFU held onto an early lead to earn a 3-2 win over Hawaii Pacific University. The Clan finished the tournament with a 5-1 record and is now 23-17 overall this season.

Simon Fraser finished behind Humboldt State and Chico State, the only two teams with 6-0 records. Three of the 26 teams in the tournament had 5-1 records. Clan pitcher Alia Stachoski was named to the All-Tournament team.
 
SFU 7 ART U 6
Despite having an early 2-1 lead on a two-RBI single by senior Alex Baylak in the first inning, Simon Fraser found itself trailing the Urban Knights 5-2 in the fifth. After cutting the deficit to two in the bottom of the frame, Art U responded in the sixth with a run of their own.
 
Down 6-3 and staring at defeat heading into the bottom of the seventh, SFU's bats came alive. With one out, Taylor Gillis reached on a throwing error and moved to third on a double by Stephanie Caron. Gillis would score Simon Fraser's first run of the inning off a Taylor Lundrigan sacrifice fly. The Knights elected to intentionally walk power hitter Nicole Ratel with two outs and take their chances with pinch hitter Rachel Proctor. Proctor delivered an RBI single to left field to bring Caron across home plate. Trailing only by a run, 6-5, with runners on first and second, Mogavero sent a 1-1 pitch deep into left centre field to cash in her two teammates and help the Clan to an epic walk-off victory. The final score was 7-6.
 
"We had some chances early to break the game open but didn't execute on a number of occasion," said Renney. "While we got behind, we made some outstanding defensive plays to keep us close. With one out in the bottom of the 7th and us down by three we finally got some breaks to go along with some clutch hitting, none bigger than Robyn Mogavero's two out two-RBI double for the walk off win."
 
Mogavero and Baylak both finished the game with two RBI while Caron and Kendra Goodman picked up two hits each. Five other SFU players had a hit in the contest. Tori Belton, who was the starting pitcher, reentered the game in the fifth in relief and earned her ninth win of the season.
 
SFU 3 HPU 2
In the first game of the day against the HPU Sharks, Simon Fraser scored a run in each of the first three innings to hold a 3-1 advantage entering the fifth inning. After SFU failed to score in the top of the frame, Hawaii Pacific scored a run off two hits to make it 3-2. The Sharks managed to put runners on base in the sixth and seventh inning but were unable to manufacture the the tying run as they fall to the Clan 3-2.
 
As a team, SFU had seven hits in the game, including two each from Mogavero and freshman Hailey Gearey. Lundrigan was 1-for-3 and had a game-high two RBI. Alia Stachoski was the winning pitcher, giving up two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings of work. Belton was given the save.
 
"Similar to other games in the tournament, we relied on a strong pitching random of Alia starting and Tori relieving to keep us in the game combined with some timely hits to squeak out a victory," said Renney. "It is great to be returning home 5-1 with contributions made throughout our roster."
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule will resume for the Clan next weekend when they travel to Oregon to play the Concordia Cavaliers and the Western Oregon Wolves. The team is sitting in fourth place in the conference standings with a 9-9 record. The top four teams will move on to the GNAC Championship at the end of April in Lacey, WA.

Follow the SFU Clan softball team for behind the scenes pictures and more all season long on their official Instagram account @sfu_softball.