A 7-2 loss to top-seeded Chattanooga State in extra innings Saturday put an end to Wallace State’s Cinderella run through the consolation bracket of the NJCAA national softball tournament.

The Lions, who picked up a 5-2 win against Pima Community College earlier in the day, finished third after a wild three-day run in St. George, Utah.

Wallace State went down 2-0 on a two-run blast early in the consolation-bracket final against Chattanooga State before tying it up with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Heather Parker pitched all eight innings for the Lions, striking out four.

“This last game was really a game of inches,” Wallace State coach Jayne Clem said. “We got behind and had a couple of chances to come back, but we really gave our all and left it all on the field today.”

Parker led the way offensively and defensively in Wallace State’s first contest Saturday against No. 4-seed Pima Community College. She went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. In the pitcher’s circle, she tossed a complete-game gem, fanning six, while allowing only two runs on eight hits and one walk.

Michal Robertson slugged her tournament-leading fourth home run in the fifth inning with a three-run shot.  At the time, she was also the tournament’s leader in RBIs with 12, runs scored with seven and total bases with 24.

The Lions conclude the season with a 60-12 record. Their state championship this year was the fifth in six seasons and seventh overall. Wallace State has finished no worse than third in its last four trips to the NJCAA tournament. The team won it all in 2008 and was runner-up in 2009 and ’10 before this year’s third-place result.

The Lions’ sophomores are Parker, a Mortimer Jordan grad; Robertson, Northside; Lauren Payne, Bob Jones; Madison Scott, Hueytown; Kirsten Gibson, Springville; Morgan Martin, Bob Jones; Kayla Sneed, East Limestone; Keyana Chapman, Munford; Megan Christensen, Grissom; and Whitney Brown, Fyffe.