The Bears entered Wednesday's season finale against No. 2 East Central hoping to not only pick up another win against a highly-ranked opponent but also finish the season on a high note. But the combination of a high-powered Warrior attack and struggles by the Bears became a bit too much to overcome as Southwest fell 5-1 in Game 1 and 16-3 in Game 2.
"We didn't do great on offense and we didn't get the hits," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said of Game 1. "They did a good job of making us earn hits. We got a few but not enough to produce more runs. We didn't give ourselves a chance on the mound in Game 2."
In Game 1, the Bears (21-35, 9-19 MACCC) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning after the Warriors made an early statement.
Southwest looked for the equalizer but could not get the consistency it needed from its offense.
The Warriors added a run each in the fourth and fifth innings making it a 3-0 game before the Bears responded in the top half of the sixth.
With one out, Marcus Jackson got on base via a walk and scoring during the ensuing at bat when Nolan Walther doubled to left putting the Bears on the board and making it a 3-1 game.
But East Central answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with a run on a single once again making it a three-run deficit for Southwest. The Warriors added one more run in the seventh to round out the scoring.
Walther led the Bears with a hit and an RBI.
In Game 2, early struggles on the mound haunted the Bears as the Warriors plated two runs in the first inning and four more in the second.
Southwest scratched a run across in the third on a balk with the bases loaded allowing Gavin Bledsoe to touch home.
But the Warriors responded with three more runs making it a 9-1 deficit for the Bears.
After East Central scored a run in the fourth, the Bears plated two in the fifth on an RBI single by Tyler Otts scoring Marcus Jackson and Sam Crowe.
However, the Warriors rallied in the bottom half of the inning scoring six runs and making the score the eventual final.
Otts led the Bear offense with two hits and two RBIs.
