NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – Tabor College Softball wrapped up the regular season last night with a trip down the road to North Newton for a date with bitter rivals, Bethel College. 
 
The Bluejays came off an exciting split with Ottawa on Senior Day this past Saturday, taking game one from the Braves in Tabor's first win over Ottawa since April 27^th, 2019. The Threshers entered the series fresh off a pair of losses to Avila at home on Saturday.
 
The Bluejays quickly jumped on the board first by way of an RBI double out to left field from Darcy Gillen with one out on the board in the top of the 1^st Inning, sending Laura Savage home. Bethel answered with a sac-fly in the bottom of the 3rd, knotting the score at one run apiece, but that would not last for long. Three additional Bluejay runs crossed the plate in the top of the 4^th courtesy of a three-run homer to right field from Jacqueline Garcia, scoring Payten Staley and Jacie Myers. 
 
Reese Hefley scored on a passed ball in the top of the 5^th to push the Bluejays' lead to four with a score of 5-1. The top of the 6^th saw three more runs come home for Tabor, starting with an RBI single from Savage, sending Reyna Enriquez home, then an RBI double from Gillen, scoring Savage, and finally an RBI single from Cheyenne Washington which sent Hefley across the plate. Tabor sealed the game in the top of the 7^th with an RBI triple from Garcia and a sac-fly from Lauren Roberts, pushing the score to 10-1. The Threshers sent one last run to score in the bottom of the 7^th, but the Bluejays took game one, 10-2.
 
Tabor drew the first blood in the second game just like the first, with Savage scoring off a ground-out by Washington to give the Bluejays an early, 2-1 lead. Bethel took the lead in the bottom of the 2^nd, 2-1, but that lead was short lived as Tabor quickly score six runs in the top of the 3^rd, highlighted by a triple from Savage and a key error charged to the Threshers.
 
The Threshers would answer back immediately, as they sent three additional runs in to score in the bottom of the 3^rd to cut the Bluejays lead to two, 7-5. Staley drove in the Bluejays' final two runs in the top of the 4^th, scoring Gillen and Mikayla Guarascio. Bethel continued to fight but ultimately came up short and the Bluejays took the rivalry series, two games to none.
 
The Bluejays clinched a spot in the KCAC Softball Tournament starting next Wednesday in Great Bend. More information on the tournament will be released next week.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
 
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).