The softball season for N.C. State came to an abrupt end during the ACC Tournament, as the Wolfpack lost in the opening round matchup to the third-seeded Maryland Terrapins in a 3-4 game following a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Wolfpack finish its season with a 26-22 record and did not make the NCAA Tournament.

Maryland went on to lose to UNC-Chapel Hill in the second round of the ACC Tournament then to the East Carolina Pirates in the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we came out and did a good job with hitting,” junior Toni Ann Willford said. “In the first inning we got ahead and did what we needed. It was just of matter of stringing those hits together and executing.”

In the last game of her collegiate career, catcher Alyssa Allbritten put the Pack on the board in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run. The Terrapins responded with two runs off of two hits in the bottom of the same inning. Alicia Abbott, another senior for the Pack, gave State a 3-2 lead in the second inning with a home run of her own, her fourth on the season.

“We played hard and for the most part we played a pretty good game,” Allbritten said. “We scored four runs, it just came down to the fact that we made a couple of errors and that’s how they scored. “

Maryland was able to even the score at 3-3 and managed to put the game away in the seventh inning with a walk of single to win the game with the score at 4-3.

“At the end, Bree Hanafin (Maryland junior) just had a hit and run with a runner on third with less than two outs,” Allbritten said. “There’s nothing that you can really do at that point. It was a decent game.”

Willford also made a significant contribution offensively for the Pack, as she went 2-4 at the plate on the day.

Despite suffering from an early exit in the conference tournament, Allbritten was honored by being named to the ACC All-Tournament team. In her only game she went 1-2 with two RBI’s and a home run.

“It’s awesome to get recognized for what you did, especially when I played one game,” Allbritten said. “What I did was I hit a home run at my first at bat and I grounded out, then I walked, so it’s nice to get recognized for your batting skills.”

But, according to Allbritten and Willford, there were still plenty of positive things for the team to look back on this season.

“The way we turned it around during the last half of the season, the last third of the season, however you look at it, was definitely a positive,” Allbritten said. “We were a totally different team from the beginning of the season.”

Willford is already looking towards the team improving and coming out with a focus on creating a culture of winning for next year.

“We also need to have confidence in ourselves and realize that we are a good enough team where we can do at, and when we fall behind we just need to realize that as long as we come together and make things happen we can win,” Willford said “We just need to come out this summer and work on the little things for next season.”