FLC 7, CCU 4

GOLDEN, Colo. — Alexis Villegas pitched a complete-game and Erica Conley had a bases-clearing triple as Fort Lewis (30-24) defeated Colorado Christian (33-27) 7-4 to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference softball tournament today at the Colorado School of Mines Softball Field, earning an automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division II playoffs in the process.

"It feels good. We've worked hard all year long and its always nice to see hard work pay off," said second-year Skyhawk skipper Kira Zeiter. "It was a full team effort, top to bottom, and that's what made this team so good all year long."

Villegas (8-8) allowed three earned runs on seven hits. She didn't allow a run until the fifth and had a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

"Our pitching this entire weekend was as good as a coach could ever hope for," said Zeiter. "They were rocks in the circle and the team really rallied around them."

Both Skyhawk starting pitchers — Villegas, who was 2-0 at the tournament, and Kassie Haubert, who went 2-1 — were named to the RMAC All-Tournament Team. Chelsea Rodriguez was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and drove in FLC's first run.

Conley went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI.

"Erica came up extremely clutch in that situation. You could see it in her eyes that she was looking for that pitch. When she got it, she took advantage of it."

Destinee DeHerrera followed Conley's three-run triple with a long double to left field that hit the top of the fence and bounced back in. Jordan Willis had an RBI single to start the scoring in FLC's five-run fourth.

Colorado Christian's Mariah Bledsoe and Genevieve Reyna split duties on the mound, as they did in FLC's first game today (a 4-3 CCU win that forced today's late game). Bledsoe gave up six runs on six hits and a walk to drop to 11-9 on the season. Reyna allowed one run and one hit in three innings of work.

The Cougars' Hannah Rapoport, who was picked as the 2012 RMAC Player of the Year, went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Each team finished with seven hits.

This marked the second time in five years that the Skyhawks have won the RMAC postseason title and the automatic NCAA bid that accompanies it on the CSM Softball Field. Pam Adams' 2008 squad (28-26-1) also accomplished the feat.

Fort Lewis will find out its playoff destination and first round foe tomorrow, when the NCAA announces the 64-team field.