PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Behind complete-game efforts from junior Jillian Reed and senior Mackenzie Clee, the JWU (Providence) softball team rallied to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) best-of-three series with the University of Saint Joseph (CT) Sunday afternoon at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex.

With the win, the Wildcats matched the fourth-highest win total in program history at 29 and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. The NCAA selection show will take place Monday morning at 11 a.m.

The Wildcats dropped a 5-2 decision to the Blue Jays (28-15) on Saturday and needed a pair of wins to take the chip.

Game One: Wildcats 5, Blue Jays 4
Reed scattered seven hits and allowed four runs (three earned) with one walk and two punchouts to propel the Wildcats into a winner-take-all game three. Sophomore Jessica Forneiro broke a 2-2 tie in the third with a sac fly to plate senior Caroline Amorelli. JWU tacked on two more in the fourth on a sac fly off the bat of junior Mady Lyons, followed by an RBI single from Amorelli. The Blue Jays capitalized on a pair of Wildcat miscues in the sixth to climb to within one before Reed sent them down 1-2-3 in the seventh.

Game Two: Wildcats 7, Blue Jays 0
Clee held the Blue Jays to just four hits over seven shutout innings and struck out four to earn her first win of the season. JWU scored the only two runs it would need in the first as junior Rachel Gosselin and sophomore Amanda Madigan scored on a throwing error. In the fifth, Lyons belted her 13th home run of the season – a three-run shot over the centerfield fence – to plate Clee and Madigan and make it 5-0. The Wildcats added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a single from junior Jadyn Torres before the Blue Jays loaded the bases with two down in the seventh. Sophomore Olivia Mason – who got the starting nod in right field with Clee in the circle – made a diving catch for the final out.

Clee was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Reed, Lyons, and senior Katie Scheid.