The University of Houston-Victoria Jaguars came up a run short of defending their Association of Independent Institutions softball crown and earning a berth to the NAIA National Championships.

The Jaguars played host to the A.I.I. Conference Tournament on Thursday through Saturday and finished with a 2-2 record after dropping two one-run games. A victory in either on those games would have advanced them to the NAIA championships and a shot at defending their conference title.

Baylea Wagener pitched a gem in the opener despite having to battle her way out of trouble in the seventh inning.  After giving up a two-out single in the first, Wagener retired the next 14 batters she faced, before LSU-Alexandria broke through against the right-handed sophomore.  

LSU-A managed to score twice off Wagener before she got Andrea Langley to ground out to Brittany Boren at short to end the game with a 4-2 UHV victory.

The Jaguars jumped out quickly with an unearned run in the first and added two more in the third on a two-run home run to left by Allison Hinton. Hinton, who went 3-for-4 in the game, would drive in another run with a double in the fourth.

The Jaguars used a strong pitching performance from senior Tasha Rotramel and the bat of Courtney Pettit to dispatch Simon Fraser in their second game 3-1.

Rotramel scattered three hits and gave up a second-inning unearned run that gave Simon Fraser a 1-0 lead.

But Pettit�s bat was too much for the Clan. Pettit delivered a three-run blast in the third inning that also scored Izzy Glowney and Claire McGee for a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, Pettit would have to leave the game in the fourth after injuring a finger while making a catch at first.

Pettit would miss the Jaguars� next two games but even without the junior�s big bat in the lineup they battled the two top teams in the tournament to the end, only to come up short by a run in each outing.

While Cal State-San Marcos pitching ace Brenna Sandberg was silencing the Jaguars� bats for her second straight no-hitter, UHV�s Rotramel was shutting down the Cougars as well.  

Rotramel retired the first eight batters she face and had a two-hit shutout working until the sixth when the Cougars managed to push across an unearned run for a 1-0 victory.

The loss forced the Jaguars into a rematch against Simon Fraser with the winner getting a berth to the NAIA national championship and a shot at CSUSM for the conference title.

Simon Fraser wasted little time in jumping on the Jaguars with three runs in the first inning behind a sacrifice fly from Kelsey Haberl and a two-run double from Stefani Durrant.

But the Jaguars hung tough and slowly scratched back to take a 4-3 lead with a pair of runs in third and fourth.

A bases loaded walk to Boren brought home the first run in the third. The Jaguars scored again when the Clan pitcher bobbled a grounder by Rotramel.

Hinton�s two-run single with two outs in the fourth put the Jaguars in front.

But the Clan had just a little firepower left as Chrissy Caviglia opened the fifth with a single and Haberl followed with a two-run home run to center to put the Clan back up 5-4.

Simon Fraser would go on to defeat Cal State-San Marcos by the same 5-4 score to force a second championship game.

But CSUSM�s Sandberg would be too tough for the Clan in the second game a she tossed a five-hit shutout in a 9-0 win to give the Cougars the title. Sandberg was also named the most outstanding player of the tournament.

The Jaguars end the season with a 35-17 record.