Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The Viterbo University Softball season came to an end on Sunday as the V-Hawks failed to advance from the first round of the Midwest Collegiate Conference pod matchups. The V-Hawks finished the 2010 season with a 10-33 overall record and a 4-18 record in the MCC.

Viterbo lost game one of the double-elimination tournament as they were defeated 13-5 by Iowa Wesleyan College on Saturday. The V-Hawks were victims of the eight-run rule as Iowa Wesleyan scored their final run in the fifth inning giving them a 13-5 lead putting the rule in to effect.

Viterbo's fielding miscues didn't help starting pitcher Kallie Mechling (So. - Holmen, Wis.) as only four of the 13 runs she allowed were earned. Sami Weaver (Fr. - Trempealeau, Wis.), Betsy Ward (Jr. - River Falls, Wis.), and Kelly Sentkowski (Sr. - Plainfield, Wis.) led the way for the V-Hawk offense as they each collected two hits. Ward added a home run and two RBI while Weaver also drove in two runs.

Game two of the weekend pod was played on Sunday as the V-Hawks stayed alive in the tournament and got revenge on Iowa Wesleyan defeating the Tigers 2-1.

Bethanee Nitz (Fr. - Menomonee Falls, Wis.) allowed a run in the first inning but then shut down Iowa Wesleyan as she held the Tigers scoreless over the remaining six innings.

The V-Hawks would tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning as Sabrina Bruehling's (So. - Abbotsford, Wis.) two-out single drove in Jenna Strait (Jr. - La Farge, Wis.) who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning.

Viterbo would finally capture the lead and score the game-winning run in the top of the seventh as Strait hit a sacrifice fly which scored Kenisha McGuire (Fr. - La Crosse, Wis.).

Nitz would retire the first three batters in the Tigers half of the seventh inning as she went on to earn the win and kept the V-Hawks alive in the tournament.

However, the V-Hawks season came to an end later in the afternoon as they were defeated 8-1 by the pod champion Mount Mercy Mustangs.

The V-Hawks were held to just two hits as Mustangs starting pitcher Becca Smith recorded 16 strikeouts in her complete game victory. Smith also helped her own cause as she went 1-for-3 at the plate with her lone hit being a three-run home run.

Weaver and Strait were the only V-Hawks to record hits as Weaver drove in the team's lone run in the first inning.

After winning the first round pod, Mount Mercy will advance to the MCC Final Four on the campus of Iowa State University along with Grand View University, William Penn University, and Waldorf College.