ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Houghton softball completed its 2024 season Wednesday with a two-game split at Elmira.

The Highlanders had a heartbreaking 8-7 walk-off loss in game one before bouncing back with a 6-4 win in 10 innings in the nightcap.

The opener saw the visiting Highlanders jump out a 6-0 lead after three innings. Houghton scored five runs on six hits in the top of the third to gain control. The inning was highlighted by a double from Alisabeth Crandall that drove in two runs.

After the Soaring Eagles got two back in the bottom of the third to make the score 6-2, Houghton added another run in the next inning and looked poised to gain the victory. However, the hosts scored four times in the bottom of the fourth, capped by a 3-run homer to trim the deficit to 7-6. 

The teams went scoreless in the sixth, and after the Highlanders were unable to add to their lead in the top of the seventh, Elmira rallied in their last at bats. They scored the two runs they needed off three hits to get the victory.

The Highlanders pounded 13 hits in the contest, led by two hits apiece from Jennifer Page, Keri Wesneski, Adelynn Killian, Rachel Scharf and Alisabeth Crandall. Kareena Ulfig pitched 5.2 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. Olivia Carr came on in relief, allowing two runs on three hits in one inning pitched.

The second game of the day saw the Highlanders produce another 13 hits, but it took a full 10 innings and late-game heroics for them to secure the victory.

Elmira scored first in the bottom of the third, before Houghton responded with a Chyanne Bushyhead double that drove in Jennifer Page in the fourth. The hosts scored again in the fourth to go up 2-1. Neither team scored over the next two innings, and the Highlanders found themselves still down a run in the top of the seventh, but Danielle Nelson played the hero with a run-scoring two-out triple to even the score at two runs apiece.

Houghton threatened in the ninth, getting Trinity Copeland into scoring position on a single, stolen base and a wild pitch with just one out, but a walk, strikeout and pop up ended the inning for the visitors. Freshman pitcher Keri Wesneski shut down Elmira in the bottom of the inning, and the teams advanced to the 10th tied at two. The Highlanders got four runs in the top of the inning off two hits, three walks and a wild pitch. Copeland capped the scoring with a 2 RBI triple that brought home Bushyhead and Page.

Elmira tried to rally in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run and putting a runner on third with just one out. But Wesneski forced a ground out that scored another run, then closed the door by forcing another ground out to short to end the game.

Copeland finished 2-for-2 with two RBI, Bushyhead was 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Lydia Peterson and Danielle Nelson each had two hits.

Wesneski had a stellar night in the circle. The first-year Highlander allowed four runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking two in 10 innings.

Houghton wraps their season with a record of 11-23-1 overall and 3-11 in the E8.