WASHINGTON – The Gallaudet softball team closed its 2013 season on Sunday and concluded the careers of three seniors, who played their final games in the buff and blue at the GU Softball Complex. Penn St.-Abington swept the Bison, 12-3, 11-3, in two six-inning games between the two North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) foes.

Seniors Kara Gulvas (Crown Point, Ind.), Alicia Johnson (San Jose, Calif.) and Nicole O'Malley (Fredericksburg, Va.) were recognized before the start of the doubleheader by head coach Joseph Kolcun on senior day. The trio has been cornerstones to the program as they played a combined 366 games for GU.

Gulvas missed the 2011 season due to a knee injury, but still played 100 games during her Gallaudet career where she had a .271 batting average, with 38 RBIs, 68 hits, 17 doubles, 37 walks, 22 stolen bases and 61 runs scored.  She had 181 putouts with 240 assists playing on the left side of the infield.

Johnson started and played in every Gallaudet softball game for the past four seasons (137 games). The center fielder accumulated a career .368 batting average. In 378 at bats, Johnson had 139 hits, 87 RBIs, 28 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 44 walks, 92 runs scored and 23 stolen bases. 

O'Malley is best known for getting on base anyway possible even getting hit by the pitch. In the recent NCAA Division III rankings (from April 21) O'Malley was ranked 19th in the country for being hit by a pitch. She finished the season with 13 hit by the pitch, matching her career-high set last year, and has 37 in her career. She is a career .256 hitter at GU with 38 RBIs, 76 hits, 12 doubles, 40 walks and 77 runs scored.

Penn St.-Abington (20-17, 13-7 NEAC South Division) scored all the runs it would have needed in the second inning of the first game with four to hold a 4-2 lead. The Nittany Lions tacked on eight more runs to Gallaudet's one to end the game in the sixth inning.

Heading into the fifth inning of the second game it was anyone's ballgame with Penn St.-Abington leading 3-0 as steady rain drizzle fell. The Nittany Lions scored four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, while the Bison only scored once in the fifth and two times in the sixth.

The Bison (11-29, 1-19 NEAC South) finished the season with a thud after starting the season 8-0. GU went 3-29 the rest of the season and lost 14 straight to conclude the campaign. The one conference victory is a program low since Gallaudet joined the NEAC three seasons ago.