BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Drew University softball team saw its 2026 season come in the Landmark Conference Championships with a close 4-3, extra-inning loss to fifth-seeded Wilkes University in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at tournament host and top-seeded Moravian University.
Playing through a steady rain, the third-seeded Rangers (24-19) were on the verge of winning their second game of the tournament, leading 3-0 before the Colonels (23-18) scored three runs over the sixth and seventh innings and plated the go-ahead run in the eighth.
Senior
Olivia Magliacano turned in a big performance in her final appearance as a Ranger, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and a triple. Freshman
Izzy Wiemer went 2-for-3 with a double while senior
Haley Meierhofer drove in a pair of runs.
In the circle, sophomore
Gabby Duran (5-5) went the distance for Drew, scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out four. Three of Wilkes' runs were earned.
The Rangers struck first, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Magliacano led off with a triple before freshman
Sloan Walmsley followed with a bunt single. Magliacano went on to score on a sacrifice fly from Meierhofer before Wiemer singled in Walmsley.
It remained a 2-0 game into the fifth, as Duran blanked the Colonels over the first five frames while allowing just two hits. Drew pushed its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Magliacano singled, was bunted over by Walmsley, and scored on a single from Meierhofer.
Wilkes got on the scoreboard in the sixth on a two-out, two-run homer from Samantha Petersen that made it a one-run game. Then in the seventh, a two-out single from Hana Cross tied it at 3-3.
The Rangers nearly won it in the bottom of the inning, when Magliacano led off with a double. Walks from Walmsley and Wiemer loaded the bases, but reliever Lauren DeMarco escaped with a strikeout.
In the eighth, the leadoff batter reached on an error for Wilkes and eventually scored on a two-out single from Talia Piragas.
Drew put the tying run on in the bottom half, when Duran led off with a single and was bunted to second by sophomore
Megan Williams. But Audrey Rinda induced a game-ending pop-up for Wilkes.
Drew was making its first back-to-back appearance in the Landmark Conference Championships in team history, and posted its first-ever Landmark postseason victory with their 4-3 win over Susquehanna in an elimination game on Friday.
