The 13th team to play NCAA D-III softball for Berry College saw its historic season come to an end Sunday in Salem, Va., as the Vikings fell to Trine, 5-0, in the elimination bracket finale at the NCAA D-III Softball Championships.

"This game doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme," said Berry head coach Emily Stanley. "I'm just so proud of how far they've come. It's just been so amazing to see them battle so hard, come together as a team, and have a common goal. I could see that how much they wanted that common goal, and that's awesome."

The Vikings (36-13) finish the season as the team with the best-ever finish for Berry College in the D-III era with a tie for third place in the country. The 2022 softball team joins the 2021 indoor volleyball team as the only teams in the D-III era for the school to even reach the final site of competition.

Drained after playing until nearly 12:30 a.m. earlier in the day, Berry was unable to string enough hits together to score any runs, while a pair of errors led to four of the five runs the Thunder (35-11) plated being charged as unearned. In the second, an error on a sacrifice bunt led to two runs scoring on the play, one of which was unearned. In the fifth, a fielding error with two out prefaced a three-run homer that accounted for the remaining runs for Trine.

The Vikings out-hit Trine 6-4, with Morgan Frye having the lone multi-hit day for Berry with two singles. Frye's 2-for-3 day gives her the team lead in batting average to close 2022 at .423, going along with her school-record 13 homers and her team-high 48 runs scored. All of Berry's hits were singles, while two of Trine's four hits went four extra bases.

Freshman Emily Whitehead was called upon to pitch time since the Southern Athletic Association Championships Berry Pod against Hendrix Apr. 23. Whitehead would end up the hard-luck loser after allowing two runs (one earned) in two innings of action. Blair Hall went 2.2 innings and allowed three unearned runs. Danielle Sudick recorded the final four outs for the Vikings in her first action since the regular season finale against Birmingham-Southern Apr. 16.

In the seventh, senior Abbey Gamble drew a one-out walk. In one of the special moments of the day, the senior was lifted for a pinch runner and received a warm ovation from her teammates and the Berry faithful in attendance. "Making it this far for Berry is huge. But [it's huge] for this program and the teams that have come before us, that paved the way for us to be able to accomplish this," said Gamble. "To be able to play this far into May with this team is a dream come true. I wouldn't have it any other way.

While the final chapter may have been written for the team affectionately known as #Team13 Sunday, there are still many more chapters to be written that could be just as exciting, if not moreso. "We have a lot of people coming back. This gives a lot of people experience in post-season play," said NFCA First Team All-American Anna Jackson. "I think it's going to be really exciting to see what we can do next year."

"We're so grateful for the Berry community," said Coach Stanley. "After we win, it's almost anxiety looking at the phone after every game because there's like 40 text message from people that have been watching our game. We're just so grateful for all of the support that we get and for the opportunity Berry gives us to come to events like this. It's just an amazing experience."