LOS ANGELES – Hannah Bandimere goes the distance throwing a one-hit shutout and Alicia Brown hits her second grand slam of the tournament as Loyola Marymount captures the 2018 Postseason NISC championship with a 5-0 win over UC Riverside on Friday afternoon at Smith Field, home of the Lions

A solo home run in the second inning by Delanie Wisz put the Lions on the board.  It’s all they needed with Bandimere dealing from the circle, throwing seven shutout innings and not allowing a hit after the first (a Jenna Curtan single).   

Brown’s grand slam, her second of the tournament, would come in the sixth inning, increasing LMU’s lead to 5-0.  She would finish the game 1-for-2 with four RBI.
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Molly Grumbo, Wisz, Brown and Maddison Flores were named to the All-Tournament team for LMU.  Bandimere was announced as the MVP.

Jenae Lockwood, Seanna Garewal, Tayler Misfeldt and Curtan were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Highlanders.

LMU’s journey to the NISC championship started in the Northern Colorado Regional.  The Lions went 3-1 in the regional round, defeating Northern Colorado once and South Dakota State twice while losing once to SDSU.  They did not lose a game in the championship round with wins over UT Arlington (10-5), UC Riverside in the semifinals (2-0) and UC Riverside in the championship (5-0). 

The 2018 NISC is LMU softball’s first postseason action since 2007 when the program won the PCSC Championship and earned the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Lions won their first game in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, gaining their first postseason victory as they eliminated the 11-time national champions, UCLA.

— Courtesy of Thomas Hoffman, Triple Crown Sports