By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

NAMPA, Idaho – Janique Balcaen sent the Simon Fraser dugout into an uproar on Friday evening at Halle Field, as she ripped a walk-off single into center field to give the Red Leafs a 7-6 win over Saint Martin's in an elimination game at the 2025 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Softball Championships.
 
With the score tied at 6-6 and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Cassidy Affeldt punched a double down the left-field line to put the winning run in scoring position. Balcaen laid off a first-pitch ball, before shooting the game-winning hit into center field to end the game with a spirited SFU celebration just past the first-base bag. “I was feeling pretty good all day, mixed up my approach from yesterday and saw some good looks,” said Balcaen, a senior. “Once Cass got that hit I knew I had to get her in. It felt great. Obviously coming into this tournament we were a bit of an underdog, and that was such a great moment. Everyone just had the biggest smiles on their faces.”
 
The Red Leafs upped their record to 24-24 after their second elimination win of the day, having topped Montana State Billings 9-0 earlier on Friday. SFU will take on reigning tournament champion Western Washington, which defeated Saint Martin’s 8-2 in the first game of the day, on Saturday morning. First pitch for the title game is set for 11 a.m. (Mountain), with an if-necessary game following directly afterwards should the Red Leafs win the opener.
 
“It was just awesome,” Bourque said on witnessing Balcaen’s walk-off knock. “I have so much faith in our entire lineup from top-to-bottom. I knew when Cass got that hit – Jani’s going to get her in. I had that feeling and I was up and ready to run out for the walk-off. It was so great to see. It is so fun for all our seniors – we have five this year – just to play one more time.”
 
Bourque claimed her 13th win of the season and her second of the day, tossing 3 1/3 innings of spotless relief. The right-hander allowed no runs on two hits with two strikeouts and three walks to keep the Saints off the scoreboard. SFU freshman Jordyn Ruppel made the start, allowing six runs – five earned – on nine hits with a strikeout and two walks across the first 3 2/3 innings. “Today I started off feeling pretty confident with MSUB in the first elimination game,” said Bourque, who shut out the Yellowjackets in her team’s five-inning victory in its first game of the day. “With SMU I knew it was going to be a tough one to close with the heat today. I knew with my hitters that we were going to come back no matter what, and that helped me settle down in the circle.”
 
Saint Martin’s moved to 32-14 with the defeat and will await Monday’s NCAA selection show results to determine if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA West Region Championships. The Saints entered the week ranked No. 6 in the region, with the top-eight teams earning spots in the NCAA postseason. Senior ace Chloe Leverington made the start and went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs – three earned – on 10 hits with no walks or strikeouts in her 89-pitch outing. Bridget Johnson struck out a pair while allowing one run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
 
SMU’s Heather Ebner, the GNAC co-Player of the Year, broke the conference single-season record for RBIs with her 67th of the year. Kaylee Walker went 4-for-4 with an RBI while Ashley Goodale, Shelby Lawson and Amanda Peterson each also had a pair of the Saints’ 11 hits.
 
Four different SFU players had multiple hits in the game, with Affeldt, Balcaen and Lizzy Sugrive each notching a double. Kristen Davyduke led the team with a pair of RBIs to back another stellar outing by Bourque. “We came up short in the first game (yesterday), but I knew that my hitters were going to come back strong today,” Bourque said on a day where SFU totaled 16 runs. “We were on a roll in the first game today, so coming into this one we had a lot of momentum.”
 
Goodale led off the game with a base hit down the left-field line, kick-starting a Saints offense that scored a pair of runs early. Peterson brought home both Goodale and Ebner with a one-out, RBI-single, making the score 2-0 in favor of SMU in the top of the first. Lawson led off the top of the third inning with her fourth home run of the season and the 10th of her career, with the solo shot over the fence in left field upping the spread to 3-0.
 
Simon Fraser came to life in the bottom of the third inning, tying the game with a three-run frame. Abby McGlynn brought home a run with a productive ground out, and Davyduke delivered the big blow with a two-run single into right center to even things at 3-3.
 
Ebner’s record-breaking RBI came in the top of the fourth, after Goodale singled and stole second to get into scoring position. The sophomore first baseman laced a base hit up the middle, simultaneously returning the lead to her team and topping Maia McNicoll’s (Northwest Nazarene) 2022 record total of 66 RBIs. The Saints added two more runs on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Kekai Schultz and an RBI-single off the bat of Walker to restore their three-run cushion.
 
Defensive miscues proved costly for SMU in a game-altering fifth inning however, as two errors extended the inning long enough for SFU to tie the score. Affeldt drove in the first of the frame and another scored on an error to bring the score even at 6-6, where it stood until Balcaen’s heroic swing of the bat two innings later.
 
Bourque was stingy across the final three frames, allowing just three baserunners, receiving a double play turned by shortstop Grace McMillan to end the sixth and stranding the go-ahead run in scoring position in the top of the seventh. “She has just been so awesome – lights out,” Balcaen said on Bourque’s third quality outing of the championship. “She is the best teammate, a great pitcher and has really come into her own this year. It has been great to watch, and I am really proud of her.”
 
Head-to-head at GNAC Championships: SMU 3-2
Besides Thursday’s opening-round win by the Saints and Friday’s win by SFU, all three previous meetings were in 2013. SMU won in the semis, SFU won the first championship game and SMU claimed the if-game for the title.
 
Simon Fraser at the GNAC Championships
Tournament Wins: 0
Appearances: 3 (2013, 2018, 2025)
 
Saint Martin’s at the GNAC Championships
Tournament Wins: 1 (2015)
Appearances: 10 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)