RICHMOND, Ky. – All good things must come to an end.
 
Unfortunately, that includes the Towson University softball team's special 2018 season.
 
A record setting and memorable Tiger campaign concluded with a pair of setbacks to Eastern Kentucky in the regional final of the National Invitational Softball Championship at Gertrude Hood Field Saturday.
 
The Tigers lost a 5-4 heartbreaker in eight innings in the opening game. It was a tough finish as they were two outs from advancing. After an early two-run lead through four innings, Towson dropped the second game, 9-2.
 
Eastern Kentucky captured the regional championship to advance to next weekend's semifinals where it play UC-Riverside at Loyola Marymount University. UT-Arlington will play LMU in the other semifinal beginning Wednesday.
 
The Tigers were hurt in the second game by an 85-minute rain delay in the bottom of the fourth inning that stifled their momentum. Towson led 2-0 before the rains came. Eastern Kentucky scored all of its runs after the rain delay.
 
Records
Towson                       42-19
Eastern Kentucky       44-19
 
Milestone Alert
Nicole Stockinger tied the Towson single-season home run record in the opening game. Her 15th homer matches Shelby Stracher's total set in 2016.
 
All-Tournament Honors
Stockinger, Brook Miko, Megan Dejter, and Riley Thies were named to the NISC Region 3 All-Tournament Team.
 
Miko (.455 batting average, five hits and four RBIs) and Stockinger (.417, four hits, one homer, three RBIs, .667 slugging percentage) led the Tigers in their four games in this tournament. Thies scored the winning run in Friday's 4-3 win over EKU and threw out three base stealers. Dejter won a pair of games in the circle, had a shutout, threw 330 pitches and finished with three complete games.
 
How It Happened Game 1

• The game started with a 32-minute rain delay.
• Eastern Kentucky leadoff hitter Destinee Lizzmore hit a walkoff home run with two outs in the eighth inning.
• EKU's Johnkyria Alston tied the game, 4-4, with a one-out home run in the seventh inning.
• Nicole Stockinger led Towson with two hits and three RBIs.
• Stockinger hit a two-run home run to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning.
• She also had a RBI single in the first inning that extended Towson's advantage to 2-0.
• Brook Miko walked twice, stole a pair of bases, and collected her NCAA-leading 76th RBI.
• The Tigers turned a nifty 6-4-3 double play to end the first inning.
• Jaclyn Mounie and Cassidy Meyer had consecutive pinch-hit singles in the seventh.
• It was Mounie's first hit of 2018.
• EKU's Emily Corbitt led the Colonels with three hits.

 
How It Happened Game 2

• Madison Wilson had a RBI single in the first inning that scored Scott, who singled leading off the game.
• Meyer reached base twice with a single and a walk.
• Stockinger had a hit and scored a run.
• EKU used consecutive two-run doubles from Johnkyria Alston and Zoe Mihalicz during a five-run fifth inning.
• EKU's Emily Corbitt hit a grand slam in the sixth inning.

 
Season Highlights

• Towson made its first postseason tournament trip in program history, finishing the NISC with a 2-2 mark.
• Towson set single season program records for wins (42), runs (377), hits (522), doubles (101), total bases (798), walks (183) and batting average (.327).
• This was Towson's highest batting average since the 1994 team hit .306.
• Towson roared to its best start in program history at 19-3.
• The Tigers had a school record 13-game winning streak from Feb. 23 through March 17.
• Towson also had a 10-game winning streak from April 14-28.
• The Tigers became the first team in program history to win at least 20 home games, finishing with 23 wins at the Tiger Softball Stadium.
• Towson scored at least five runs in an inning 19 times this season.
• Towson was 10-0 when it hit at least two home runs.
• Towson scored double digits in a game 14 times.
• Towson had double-digit hits in a game 28 times this season.
• Stockinger hit two grand slams this season.
• Four Tigers had five-RBI games this season (Scott, Stockinger, Shelby Stracher & Miko).
• The 13 CAA regular season wins tied the 2005 and 2009 for most in a single season.
• Towson had an 11-game winning streak against CAA competition from March 31-April 28.
• The Tigers scored 19 runs against North Carolina A&T, the seventh time since 1980 they scored at least that many in a game.
• Wilson opened the season with a 13-game hitting streak.
• The Tigers were also ranked in top 20 nationally in scoring, batting, slugging, on-base percentage and doubles per game, a category they led for most of the season.
• Scott, Miko, Wilson, Dejter and Stockinger were ranked in the top 50 individually in numerous categories.

Individual Single-Season Records

• Stockinger, who hit two grand slams, tied Stracher's single-season home run record with 15.
• Dejter set a single-season record for wins (24).
• Miko set Towson single season records for RBIs (76), runs (60) and doubles (23).
• The RBI and runs mark were Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) single season records.
• Miko tied the single-season CAA record for doubles.
• Scott set the Towson and CAA single-season record for hits with 89.
• Scott also set the Towson single-season record for total bases with 143.

 
Individual Accolades

• Scott, Dejter and Miko were named All-CAA First Team selections.
• Stockinger and Daria Edwards were named All-CAA Second Team selections.
• Scott and Miko were named All-National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) First Team selections.
• Madison Wilson was named to the All-NFCA Third Team.
• Dejter was named CAA Pitcher Of The Week twice (Feb. 27 & April 20).
• Stockinger was named CAA Player Of The Week twice (Feb. 27 & Mar. 12).
• Scott was named CAA Player Of The Week (April 9).
• Scott was named Towson Female Student-Athlete Of The Year during the annual Towson Golden Paws banquet.

Individual Towson Career Records

• Stracher became Towson's all-time leader in home runs in grand fashion with a walkoff homer in the Tigers season opening win over North Dakota.
• Stracher has 41 career home runs, which is third in CAA history.
• Miko became the Tigers all-time program leader in runs (151), doubles (60) and RBIs (189).
• Miko is also the CAA's career leader in RBIs.
• Scott became the all-time program leader in hits (252) and runs (163).