GROVE CITY, Pa. -- For the first time since 1998, the Grove City College softball team concluded the regular season atop the Presidents' Athletic Conference standings.

Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines clinched the conference's regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's six-team conference tournament by taking both ends of a conference doubleheader with visiting Saint Vincent (21-16, 9-11) at College Field. Grove City won the opener, 8-1, then rallied from a 9-3 deficit in the nightcap to pull out an 11-10 victory. 

Grove City's sweep, coupled with Westminster's doubleheader split Saturday at Waynesburg University, gives the Wolverines the top seed in the tournament. Grove City (24-11) and Westminster entered play Saturday tied atop the conference at 13-5. 

The Wolverines trailed 9-3 in the fourth inning of Game Two but took the lead with consecutive four-run innings. Grove City carried its 11-9 lead into the seventh inning. Saint Vincent loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh, however.

Sophomore pitcher Abigail Meadors (Warren, Ohio/Champion), the Wolverines' fourth hurler of the nightcap, entered the game and induced Eva Farone to fly out to left fielder Evelyn Montone (Allentown, Pa./Parkland). Lead runner Lily Koller scored on the sacrifice fly but junior catcher Kristin Tesch (Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley) gunned down Lilly Rush at third base to complete a double play. 

Meadors then retired Abby Bauer with the tying run at second base to end the game. Meadors recorded her second save of the season. Sophomore reliever Alexis Jackson (Coventry Township, Ohio/Coventry) earned the win by allowing one run in 2 2/3 innings.

Grove City began its comeback in the bottom of the fourth when Meadors and Montone scored on an error. Senior first baseman Brooke Brodie (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore) doubled home senior second baseman Maci Linhart (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana), which cut the lead to 9-6. Jackson then singled in Brodie with the fourth run of the inning. 

The Wolverines surged ahead in the fifth inning with four more runs. Linhart opened the scoring by singling in senior right fielder Annika Rinehart (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry). Brodie laced a go-ahead two-run single that brought home Linhart and Montone. Brodie scored Grove City's final run when junior center fielder Noel Anthony (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) reached on an error. 

Anthony opened Grove City's three-run second inning with a solo home run, her first clout of the season. Montone and Linhart later followed with run-scoring singles to put Grove City up 3-1. 

The double-elimination conference tournament will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at College Field, when No. 4 Allegheny faces No. 5 Bethany. The winner will advance to face Grove City at 2 p.m. Thursday. These will be the first conference tournament games held at College Field.

Montone finished 3 for 5 with a double. Brodie and Linhart both had a pair of hits. 

Junior pitcher Kyla Campbell (Altoona, Pa./Glendale) started and allowed three earned runs in three innings. Brodie pitched in the fourth before yielding to Jackson (2-1). 

Meadors (11-4) threw a complete game in the opener, allowing seven hits in seven innings. She struck out two and walked two. 

The Wolverines seized an early lead in the opener as Montone led off with a triple and scored on a Linhart single. Grove City then added five runs in the third inning. Campbell tripled and scored on Tesch's single. Brodie followed with a two-run hit that brought in Montone and sophomore pinch runner Abby Stouffer (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim). 

Sophomore DP Emma Covert (Chicora, Pa./Moniteau) and Anthony followed with successive sacrifice flies. 

Montone's sixth-inning sacrifice fly scored senior third baseman Rachel Zona (New Castle, Pa./New Castle). Campbell scored on an error later in the sixth inning. 

Campbell, Montone and Tesch all went 2 for 3. Linhart finished 2 for 4.

Grove City went 9-1 in the six-team conference in 1998, winning the program's fourth all-time conference crown. The league did not use a tournament to determine its champion until 2000. Grove City also won conference titles in 1986, 1987 and 1990.