Senior Columnist

The taste of victory is as sweet as a thousand ripe pomegranates, unless you’re allergic to pomegranates in which case think of strawberries.

Unfortunately for CSU Bakersfield’s softball team, the morsel was snatched away in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game, courtesy of a 10-run explosion in New Mexico State’s half of the fifth inning.

The Roadrunners led the Aggies by four runs going into the fifth inning. Then the Aggies drove 10 runs across in what would eventually lead to an unexpected 18-10 loss on May 9 at Las Cruces, N.M.

The Roadrunners defeated the Aggies in the second round of the conference tournament, but because of the double elimination format, had to face them again in the championship round, and again because the Aggies handed them their first loss.

It was a sad end to what turned out to be a good season for the Roadrunners, who were slated to finish last in the preseason coaches’ poll. Contrary to expectations, they won three of their last four games heading into the tournament, and was only a win away from securing their first WAC Championship.

“Being picked last in the WAC and coming out and being runner-up is a tribute to our student-athletes and them believing that we can get this done,” CSUB coach Chrissy Buck-Ziegler told gorunners.com.

Despite the loss, the tournament was not without high points. The Roadrunners left New Mexico with the program’s first two conference playoff victories, bringing their tournament record to 2-4.

This was the first time the Roadrunners had advanced beyond the first round of play. Madison Bundy, Kelsie Monroe and Sydney Raeber were named to the WAC All-Tournament team, two more Bakersfield representatives than last year, with Raeber earning her second appearance. Bundy was the first runner-up for the honor of Tournament MVP.

Alexandrea Simmons and Julea Cavasos also earned honors for the Roadrunners by being named to second-team all-tournament squad.