DECATUR, Ala. -- Notre Dame had its season come to an end on Monday, bowing out of the opening round of play in the 2010 NAIA National Championship Tournament with a 9-0 loss to the Bees of the Savanna College of Art & Design (SCAD). (Box)

With the loss, the Falcons went 0-3 in three games at the tournament.

Both NDC and SCAD came into the game 0-2 in the tournament's opening-round pool play with no shot at advancing to the eight-team championship bracket. Their pool -- Pool B -- was to be decided in a 5:30 p.m. ET tilt between two Tennessee programs, Lee and Trevecca Nazarene, who each came into the final day of pool play at 2-0. Monday's games were all originally scheduled for Saturday, May 22, but rains on Friday forced a reshuffling of the schedules involving the 32 teams split into eight groups for opening-round pool play at the Wilson Morgan Softball Complex.

Monday's game was a re-acquaintance of sorts for NDC and Savannah A & D -- the Falcons (25-27) and Bees (36-17) had met once before this season: NDC lost, 9-6, at SCAD on Feb. 28. The Bees were competing in the NAIA tournament for a fifth time in six years; they qualified for this year's field by way of winning the Sun Conference.

Savannah A & D got out of the gate quickly on Monday, scoring an unearned run in the top of the first (NDC batted as the home team). The Bees plated the run on a pair of singles and an NDC error. In the second, they chased Falcon starter #Christina Hutchison# with three more runs on two hit batters, two walks, a hit and another Falcon error. Hutchison was replaced by junior #Meredith Harbarger#, who came into the game

Offensively, the Falcons were held in check by SCAD's Sam White, who toed the rubber for the Bees. White scattered nine hits in tossing her third shutout of the season. White walked two and struck out as many. She pitched well in clutch situations, holding NDC to an 0-for-6 mark with runners in scoring position.

White's lead was upped to six runs (6-0) in the fourth, when a double by third baseman Courtney Mienkina plated two. The Bees then added one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Harbarger was lifted for #Alyssa Lancaster# in the sixth.

Harbarger gave up five runs (four earned) on the heels of Hutchison yielding four (three earned).

#Charisse Colston# and #Nicole Spehar# were Notre Dame's top offensive players on the day -- each went 2-for-3.

“This last game here in Decatur certainly did not reflect what we are as a team,” said head coach #Amy Kyler#. “But being down here was a great experience for our young team. We know we need to grow from this.” 


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

STUNG AGAIN: Notre Dame is now 0-4 all-time against the Bees. The two teams met twice this season and played a twin bill against each other at the beginning of the 2008 season. SCAD was the host of the Smash Hit Tournament, where the Falcons opened their 2010 season (NDC went 6-2 in eight games in Savannah.)

FALCONS GROUNDED: Monday's loss marked NDC's seventh this season in which they scored no runs. The Falcons won eight games via a shutout on their side of the ledger. Notre Dame closed out the season with a 14-7 record at home, a 5-12 record on the road and a 6-8 mark in neutral-site games.

E-10: With the team committing three errors on Monday afternoon, the Falcons closed out the season with 90. That marks the most errors the team has scored since committing the same number in the 2004 season. NDC committed 57 errors a year ago