The UBC Okanagan Heat women's softball team made it back-to-back years on the podium at the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association (CCSA) National Championship on Sunday as they claimed the bronze medal with a 7-0 win over the Durham College Lords.
One year after claiming the national championship on home turf, the Heat once again claimed a medal against the best teams in Canada thanks to an outstanding pitching performance from Mikhaela Muir of Okotoks, Alta. The third-year pitcher threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout in the bronze medal game en route to being named a tournament all-star.
Also contributing in the victory on Sunday was centrefielder Kasey Wright of Richmond, B.C. The fifth-year veteran went 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot while driving in a run to also claim a spot on the tournament all-star team.
The Heat reached the bronze medal match after finishing pool play with a 2-1 record, losing only to the eventual champions, the host St. Clair College Saints.
Facing the Humber College Hawks in the quarter-finals, the Heat got RBI's from five different players to edge the Toronto-based club 6-5.
UBCO lost a narrow contest to the Western Mustangs, 6-4, in the semifinals, to dash their hopes at a repeat but still managed to mine a medal with their best performance of the week in the bronze medal game.