Ottawa (October 14, 2008) – Queen's Fastpitch travelled to Ottawa this weekend in hopes of securing a playoff position in the 2008 Ontario Intercollegiate Women's Fastpitch Associaiton Championship tournament. With five games over the weekend, the Gaels needed to capture as many points as possible to hang on to the eighth and final playoff position.

On Friday night against Carleton University the Queen's bats exploded an impressive 18 runs in a shutout against the Ravens. The second game of the double-header was much closer as Queen's defeated Carleton 9-4. These two wins secured Queen's a position in the playoffs next weekend hosted by Wilfred Laurier University.

Having succeeded in achieving a major season goal, Queen's refocused on Saturday to take on the powerful University of Ottawa Gee Gees. The Gee Gees have a 91-33 lifetime record and have been on the OIWFA podium four of the last five years.

The first game of the double-header featured a dominant performance by Gee-Gee's pitcher Jillian Taylor, holding the Queen's offence to only one run. The Gee-Gee's had many timely hits and capitalized on errors made by the Gael's. The final score of the first game was 6-1.

In the second game of the day, Queen's had a much better start against the Gee-Gee's and pulled into a quick 2-0 lead, again facing off against Gee-Gee ace Jill Taylor. Elissa Sivel came in and had a solid relief performance but the Gaels held to a 3-0 lead going into the 7th. The Gee-Gee's came back and scored three runs in the seventh inning, forcing the game into extra innings. After 10 solid innings of ball, the University of Ottawa pulled ahead for a 6-4 victory. Queen's pitcher Erin Mills threw all 10 innings for the Gaels.

With York University forfeiting the final game on Sunday due to injuries, Queen's picked up 7 out of a possible 10 points on the weekend and not only secured a playoff spot, but launched itself into 7th place in the OIWFA. This is the highest standing the team has achieved since joining the OIWFA in 2003.

Queen's Fastpitch will face off against Wilfred Laurier, the University of Ottawa and the University of Windsor in playoff action October 17 and 18. The top three teams in pool play will advance to single elimination games and fight for a chance at the OIWFA Championship. In the 6 years of the OIWFA there have been 6 different schools win the championship title.