Oh well.

As long as the result was the same, she can live with it.

Winthrop blasted Liberty 6-1 on Saturday and claimed its second straight BSC championship and NCAA tournament berth, removing any doubt about playing a second winner-take-all game by the fourth inning. The Eagles (36-17) recognized their second goal and looked forward to their third and final mission -- advance in the NCAA Regionals.

Tournament seedings and destinations will be finalized tonight. But as Kingsmore and her teammates swarmed Izzy Trottier after the final out, the opinion didn't need to be said.

Anywhere's fine, because it's the NCAA tournament.

"I could care less," coach Mark Cooke said, drenched and happy after a post-game water-cooler shower. "They're paying for it."

Through 54 games, Winthrop set goals of winning the BSC regular-season title, the BSC tournament and returning to the NCAAs, a destination reached for the first time in program history last year. Now it's two straight, and with the Eagles only losing three seniors from this year's team, a three-peat may be on the horizon.

"Definitely. No doubt," pitcher Megan Evans said. "Look at our pitching, and we can really hit the ball."

But first comes this year, and as Cooke said in the postgame meeting, the rest of Saturday and most of today would be for relaxing. As soon as the seedings are announced tonight, it's back to work.

"I'm hoping to be able to fly," senior Stephanie Reid said, "but I'm happy wherever we get sent. We've shown we can play with anybody."

Winthrop faced a surprise winner in Liberty (20-40-1), which eliminated second-seeded Radford on Friday. The Flames had to win three games on Friday to advance and took the approach of, "What's two more?"

It seemed as if fatigue was hitting the pitching staff, though, with Sarah Ellis warming up by the second inning and replacing starter Tiffani Smith in the fourth. Winthrop had already scored two runs on a couple of fielding miscues and Lenny Stoddart smashed a two-run homer off Smith to make it 4-1.

The Eagles added two more in the fifth and Evans cruised through her appearance, only striking out two but giving up a scant three hits. A leadoff single from Amber DePasquale in the sixth was immediately wiped out when Tessa Thomas threw DePasquale out trying to stretch the double, and Evans was out of the inning two batters later.

Trottier came in for the seventh and gave up two one-out singles but struck out Leah Cossentino for the second out. With the dugout whooping, Trottier fired an 0-2 pitch to Shannon McKain and got a grounder to Reid.

Reid threw to Mallory Hogan at first, and Hogan pumped her fist and leaped into Trottier's arms. The rest of the team was quickly around the pair as the Eagles celebrated another high mark in a two-year stretch of dominance.

"We put it on Megan," Cooke said. "She went out and pitched a great game today. Our defense was so good, so good, today, too."

"I really wanted this one because I pitched the first game last year and lost," Evans said. "I wanted it bad."

Reid had two hits and Kingsmore scored two runs while Hogan and Stoddart had two RBIs each. Stoddart, Thomas and Sarah Magee were named to the all-tournament team while pitcher Cari Wooldridge, the winning pitcher in Winthrop's two previous tournament wins, was tournament MVP for the second straight year.

The pictures and celebratory treats were still in progress an hour later as Winthrop enjoyed the moment. Another one -- or ones -- are hopefully on tap.

"This is what we've been working for since the first day," Reid said. "We've practiced and worked hard and we went out and got it."

• NOTE: Liberty senior Ashley Williams was honored before the game by her teammates. Williams had to miss her graduation to play, so her teammates presented her with an "honorary" degree and sang "Pomp and Circumstance." It may have seemed like a poor substitute -- Liberty's graduation speaker was Chuck Norris.

• All tournament team and tournament MVP • 4D