A walkoff home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning ended Alma's run in the NCAA Division III softball tournament Friday, as DePauw, Ind. edged the Scots, 5-4, in Salem, Va.

Alma, which was the No. 4 seed in its regional, but stormed to five consecutive victories in the regional and super regional to advance to the national finals for the first time in 10 years, finished its season at 30-17.

The Scots fell behind early Friday, as the Tigers combined three singles and an error into two first-inning runs. But Alma bounced right back in the top of the second, taking advantage of back-to-back errors to begin the inning. Marie Zill's bases-loaded single scored the first run, and Anna Couture followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2-2.

Alma took its first lead in the top of the fifth when Couture walked, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a Kayla Merice sacrifice and scored on Devan Olah's ground out, putting the Scots ahead 3-2. DePauw matched the Scots' run with one in the bottom of the fifth.

In the sixth, Cori Witham delivered a two-out single to score Brooke Hein, who had reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Alma had a 4-3 lead, but a two-out error in the sixth allowed the Tigers to score the tying run from third.

In the bottom of the seventh, DePauw nearly pulled out the win on a two-out double to deep center field. However, a perfect relay from Zill to Olah to Witham cut down the potential winning run at the plate, sending the game to extra innings.

But in the eighth, DePauw's Morgan McCord hit an opposite-field home run off Alma's Morgan Stratton for the win.

Stratton, who pitched all 49 innings for the Scots during the NCAA tournament, allowed 10 hits and struck out three against the Tigers. The MIAA's earned run average leader finished the season with a 19-9 record in the circle. Witham led the Alma offense with two hits.

Click here to watch the postgame press conference with Alma coach Denny Griffin and Cori Witham