BURNABY, B.C. – Sophomore left fielder Abby McGlynn (Langley, B.C.) hit a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Simon Fraser Red Leafs a 4-3 win in Game 1 of their doubleheader against Central Washington Tuesday in Burnaby, B.C.
 
The visiting Wildcats won the finale of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference series 10-1 in five innings to earn the Tuesday split.
 
GAME 1 – Simon Fraser 4, Central Washington 3
Abbotsford, B.C.'s Avery Barker, a sophomore who played at second base, got SFU (9-34, 3-17 GNAC) on the scoreboard in the third inning. With her team down 2-0, Barker hit a solo home run to left field. Her first collegiate home run cut the Red Leafs' deficit in half.
 
After three scoreless innings, the Wildcats extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of seventh on a passed ball.
 
With one out in the home half of the seventh, junior center fielder Megan Duclos (Sainte-Eustache, Que.) got on base via a fielding error by CWU shortstop Makenna King. On the next play, rookie SFU shortstop Amy Hughes (Brampton, Ont.) hit a grounder to King, who flipped the ball to Harlee Carpenter at second base, but she couldn't secure the ball. Duclos made it safely to second while Hughes reached first on the fielder's choice.
 
Then McGlynn stepped up to the plate with a chance to win the game. She delivered by driving a one-strike pitch the opposite direction and over the Beedie Field fence in left field for the three-run shot and the walk-off triumph. It was McGlynn's fifth home run of the campaign.
 
"Once we got Amy and Megan on base in the seventh inning with Abby coming up, we were feeling pretty good in that situation," said interim SFU head coach Stacy Fournier. "Abby is still so young, a sophomore, but we have so much confidence in her. Everybody here was thinking, 'She could hit a walk-off right now,' and then she does it. It was very exciting for us, and a big positive we're looking at today."
 
Along with three runs batted in, McGlynn finished the game with two hits in four at-bats, and a run scored. Hughes also had two hits for the Red Leafs.
 
Sophomore pitcher Shaneika Hollingworth (Maple Ridge, B.C.) earned the win after throwing the final 2.1 innings of the game. Sophomore Julia Hansen (Beaconsfield, Que.) made the start and gave up just two runs in 4.2 innings.
 

GAME 2 – Central Washington 10, Simon Fraser 1 (5 innings)
Sophomore right fielder Janique Balcaen (Winnipeg) drove in SFU's lone run in the third inning with the bases loaded. She hit a pitch to third base, and was able to reach safely on a CWU error that allowed Barker to score. However, the home side couldn't overcome the nine runs posted by the Wildcats in their half of the third.
 
CWU opened the scoring in the second with a bases-loaded walk, but SFU got out of the jam with an ensuing groundout.
 
Affeldt, Balcaen, Barker, Hughes and McGlynn had the hits for the Red Leafs.
 
McGlynn went 8-for-16 hitting in the four-game series against the Wildcats, with four runs batted in. Five of those hits were doubles, while another was a home run.
 
The team will wrap up the 2023 season this weekend with Saturday-Sunday doubleheaders at Montana State Billings. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Pacific on both days.

The 2023 GNAC Softball Championships, featuring the league's top four teams, will be played May 4-6 at Beedie Field.

For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.
 
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