Columbus, Ga. - The Central Methodist Softball team saw their season come to a close Saturday with a 5-1 loss to Georgia Gwinnett in their third game of the NAIA World Series in Columbus, Georgia. 

Saturday's game marked the final contest of Kayla Richardson, Cassidy Brent, Lauren Hill, and Daly Garland's careers at Central Methodist.

The Grizzlies got the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to right field. 

After a scoreless second inning, the Eagles tied the game at 1-1 with a Kaysie Jolley RBI triple to left center, scoring Madison Roberts in the third.

Georgia Gwinnett retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame, capitalizing on a CMU defensive miscue. 

Two innings later, the Grizzlies continued to swing the bats well, scoring three unanswered runs in the fifth to make it a 5-1 game.

Central tried to cut into the deficit in the final two innings, but stellar pitching from two-time First Team All-American Annalise Jarvis kept the Eagles off the scoreboard. 

CMU finished the game with seven hits compared to Gwinnett's six. However, Central left eight runners on base.

Haley Cotter and Veronica Dearth were both inside the circle for CMU.

Cotter threw the first four innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two walks. She also recorded three strikeouts.

Dearth tossed the final two innings, giving up just one hit in her final appearance of the year. 

Offensively, Maddie Holly and Jolley had multi-hit games, going two-for-three each.

CMU finishes the year at 42-11, a fourth-straight Heart Regular Season title, and third consecutive trip to the World Series.

#TakeFlight