Salisbury, N.C. -- The 20th-ranked Wayne State University softball team (11-2 overall) won all three games of the 2010 Catawba Invitational tournament on Sunday to claim the tournament title.

WSU earned the No. 1 seed after recording a 4-0 mark during pool play on Friday and Saturday.  In Sunday's quarterfinal contest, the Warriors upended tournament host Catawba 7-4.  Wayne State claimed a 2-1 win in eight innings over Armstrong Atlantic in the semifinals before edging Kutztown 3-2 in the title game.

In the victory over the host Indians, Nicole Abel (Kitchener, Ont. / St. Mary's) had a 6-4 lead in the sixth when Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va. / Douglas Freeman) came on to earn the save.  Becca Ryan (Westland, Mich. / Dearborn Divine Child) had a grand slam in the third to turn a 2-2 into a 6-2 lead.

After allowing an unearned run in the top of the first against the AASU Pirates, Alison Allen (Redford, Mich. / Farmington Hills Mercy) homered leading off the bottom of the first to knot the game at one.  In the bottom of the eighth, with international tie-breaker runner Makelle Barski (Trenton, Mich.) on second, Allen was walked.  Jaci Banton (Richmond Hill, Ont. / Cardinal Carter) then delivered the game-winning single.  Hanes went the distance striking out nine.

In the championship game, the Bears scored twice in the third.  After the first two KU batters were retired, a WSU error was followed by a two-run home run.  The Warriors wasted no time taking the lead.  In the bottom of the frame, Steph LeClair (Kitchener, Ont. / Forest Heights C.I.) hit a home run, and a few batters later Banton smacked a two-run single to complete the scoring.  Hanes was again stellar in the circle striking out 15 as the Warriors won their eighth straight.

Wayne State will be idle until heading to Orlando for Spring Break.  WSU will play 14 games in eight days as part of the Rebel Spring Games.