Ohio Valley Conference

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Tennessee Tech had a fast start Friday in its game against Queens of Charlotte, but its hopes for its first victory of the young season were dashed as the Royals scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a 6-5 victory in the Red and Black Classic at Gardner-Webb.

The Golden Eagles (0-6) return to action Saturday morning as they have a return game against the Royals at 9 AM, then face tournament host Gardner-Webb at 2 PM.

Ella Grace Harvey had the big blow for Tech with three RBI on a home run in the third inning, giving the Golden Eagles a 5-1 lead, driving in Ashley Capelouto and Skylar Gooden on the blast.

Capelouto and Jailynn Paderez each went 2-for-3 in the game with Capelouto coming home to score twice. Capelouto doubled in Paderez in the first inning with a double to left, then Abbee Klinefelter had an RBI single to drive in Capelouto.

Queens answered in the bottom of the first with a double-steal, including a home swipe to make it 2-1. The Royals then collected an RBI double and a two-run home run in the fifth to make it a 5-4 game. A two-run home run in the bottom seventh ended the game with Queens on top.

Emily York went six complete frames before allowing the final two runs to take the loss. She was tagged for six earned runs on 12 hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Earlier in the day, Tech took an 11-0 five-inning loss to Lehigh. The Golden Eales collected two hits as Skylar Sybesma and Julie Martin had the two safeties in the contest.

Lainey Fitzgerald took the loss, allowing six runs – five earned – on three hits with three walks and a strikeout in one inning of work. Addison Abell threw the next 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs – three earned – on seven hits, while Hannah Lange had a scoreless two-thirds to close out the contest.

Tech was charged with three errors in the contest.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 7 KANSAS CITY 3
BALL STATE 9, SOUTHERN INDIANA 5
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Softball split its first two games at the University of Memphis 901 Classic on Friday, which included the Screaming Eagles' first win of the season in the opener. USI (1-5) won 7-3 on Friday morning against the University of Missouri-Kansas City (2-4) before dropping a 9-5 battle against Ball State University (3-3) during the afternoon.
 
In Friday's morning matinee against Kansas City, USI broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third inning with a four-spot on the scoreboard. The Eagles took advantage of multiple misplays by the Roos. USI then increased its lead to 7-0 in the fourth inning.
 
Despite Kansas City breaking through for three runs between the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, USI halted the momentum and went on to claim the 7-3 result for the Screaming Eagles' first win of the 2026 season.
 
The top two of USI's batting order, senior outfielder Caroline Stapleton and freshman outfielder Katelyn Marx, combined for five of USI's eight hits. Stapleton had three hits, and Marx had two hits, while both scored twice. Junior infielder Sydney Long also scored twice and tallied an RBI.
 
On the pitching side, freshman pitcher Anna Kemp (1-1) recorded her first career win after going 4.2 innings with four strikeouts, allowing three runs and only one earned. Kemp's counterpart, UMKC's Alyssa Droge (0-1), suffered the loss after giving up three runs and one earned in only two innings pitched.
 
In the afternoon game against Ball State, the Cardinals scored first in the top of the first inning with a run, but USI answered right away in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one after an RBI knock by sophomore first baseman Grace Huffman. Huffman later tied the game again at two with an RBI sac fly in the bottom of the third.
 
Ball State then scored three unanswered runs between the top of the fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-2 lead. The Screaming Eagles fought back to pull within one, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth off back-to-back sac flies from Huffman and junior outfielder Kate Satkoski.
 
Remaining a one-run ballgame going into the seventh inning, Ball State struck for four runs in the top half and limited USI to one run in the bottom half of the seventh to close out the contest.
 
The top of USI's batting order was strong again in the second game, as the top three had seven of USI's 10 hits. Stapleton posted a pair of hits with three runs scored. Marx collected her first career three-hit game. Long also registered a pair of hits. Huffman notched a career-best three RBIs.
 
Freshman pitcher Elly Robbins (0-3) was dealt the loss with five runs allowed. Ball State's Bridie Murphy (1-1) got the win after five innings of work and surrendered four runs with three earned.

UT MARTIN 7, VALPARAISO 4
UT MARTIN 16, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 0  (5)
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team won both of its games at the 2026 Skyhawk Invitational Friday at Bettye Giles Field to extend its winning streak to six, the longest under head coach Chelsea Farmer and the longest since the 2021 and 2022 teams won seven in a row. The Skyhawks opened the day with a 7-4 win over Valparaiso and followed it with a 16-0, five-inning win over Mississippi Valley.

Game 1 – UT Martin 7, Valparaiso 4
The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning when Valpo plated a pair of runs of RBI-singles from Lana Tellez and Madison Vrastil. The lead did not last long, though, as UT Martin answered in the bottom of the frame with a RBI-single from Ava Scott and a two-RBI single by Jordyn Hustey.

In the fifth, Kaia Garnica hit a solo homerun for the Beacons to tie the game at three. In the bottom of the fifth, the Skyhawks answered again, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Dylan Scott, a single down the right field line from Avary Makarewicz and a single through the right side by Ava Scott, giving them a 6-3 lead.

Grace Hollopeter inched the Beacons closer to the lead in the sixth on a double to make it 6-4, but UT Martin got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Carly Ward scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead back to three.

In the seventh, with the Beacons threatening, Sami Scholtz entered the game for UT Martin with runners on first and second with no outs. Scholtz proceeded to retire the side in order, ending the game by striking out the final batter looking.

Karena Recrosio, Dylan Scott, Makarewicz, Ava Scott and Carly Ward each had two hits in the contest, while Ava Scott and Hustey each had two RBIs. Ashtyn Green improved to 2-0 on the year by allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout over 1.2 innings, while Scholtz, who started the game, earned the save for her late-game heroics.

Game 2 – UT Martin 14, Mississippi Valley 0 (5 Inn.)
In the second game, it was all Skyhawks as they pounded out 16 runs on 13 hits while stealing 12 bases.

Karena Recrosio scored four runs and stole three bases in the game, while nine different Skyhawks tallied at least one hit. Ava Scott, Dylan Scott, Teagan Hayes and Makarewicz each had a double with Kyrsten Brown, Ava Scott and Makarewicz each tallying a pair of hits.

Payton Harris picked up her first win of the season in the circle by allowing no runs or hits with two strikeouts over the final two innings. Kaytie Chandler started the game for UT Martin and allowed no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 8, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 0  (6)
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 4, WESTERN ILLINOIS 3
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - The Western Illinois softball team opened its weekend series at the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions by going 1-2 at the Torii Hunter Complex. The Leathernecks fell 5-3 in the opener, responded with an 8-0 shutout in game two, and dropped a tightly contested 4-3 decision in the finale.

Game 2: Western Illinois 8, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 (6 innings)
The Leathernecks bounced back in dominant fashion, scoring in five of six innings en route to an 8-0 victory.

Western Illinois plated three runs in the first, highlighted by Tarr's two-run double and a sacrifice fly from Luna. The offense continued to build cushion throughout the afternoon with RBI doubles from Payton Brown, Sophia Sanchez, Hannah Simpson and Luna.

Brown led the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Luna recorded two doubles and two RBIs. Angie Ortiz added two hits, and Addie McLaughlin scored twice as the Leathernecks totaled 11 hits.

Libby Spaulding was strong in the circle, tossing a six-inning complete-game shutout. She allowed four hits, walked one and struck out eight.

Game 3: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4, Western Illinois 3
Western Illinois again started fast in the finale, scoring twice in the first inning on RBI doubles from Tarr and Luna. The Leathernecks added another run in the second when Utendorf reached on an error, allowing Angie Ortiz to score and make it 3-1.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff answered with two runs in the second and one in the third to take a 4-3 lead. Despite outhitting the Golden Lions 10-5, Western Illinois was unable to capitalize down the stretch.

Ortiz paced the offense with four hits, while Luna added two hits and an RBI. Tarr also contributed an RBI double.

Western Illinois moves to 2-6 on the season following the weekend series.

LINDENWOOD 13, NORTH ALABAMA 8
SAMFORD 8, LINDENWOOD 0  (6)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Lindenwood Softball team (4-2, 0-0 OVC) split the first two games of the Samford University Tournament by defeating North Alabama 13-8 and dropping their second game of the day to Samford 8-0. Senior infielder Tori Hatton collected five more RBI to her season total while a total of six Lions had two hits on the day. 

Game 1:  Lindenwood 13, North Alabama 8
Lindenwood jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings of play behind RBI singles from Anna Sanders, Teryn Brown, and Madisen Noll. However, North Alabama evened the score at five in the top of the fourth following a grand slam in the top of the third and an RBI single in the fourth. The Lions would take the lead back for good in the bottom of the fourth inning behind a Tori Hatton SAC fly that brought in Brown and Jolie McMinn's first home run of the season to make it a 7-5 game after four innings of play. UNA cut the deficit to one in the top of the fifth to make it a 6-5 game, but Lindenwood put some distance between the two squads by putting up six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning behind Hatton's second grand slam of the season to make it a 13-6 game. After North Alabama made it a 13-8 game, Avery Wapp entered in the top of the seventh inning and retired all three batters that she faced to give the Lions their fourth win of the 2026 season. 

Lindenwood picked up 12 hits in the victory as Kylee Crowder, Anna Sanders, and Teryn Brown all had two hits to lead Lindenwood offensively. In the circle, Samantha Roulanaitis grabbed her first win of the season pitching one inning and allowing no runs while facing six batters. 

Game 2: Lindenwood 0, Samford 8
The Lions collected three hits in the game coming off the bats of Madisen Noll, Tori Hatton, and Emily Geary. Samford took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run and added on to their lead in the bottom of the third on another two-run home run followed by a solo home run to go up 5-0. The Bulldogs scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to defeat the Lions by a score of 8-0.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9, JACKSON STATE 6
COMMERCE, Texas - Kinley Wilkins went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and career-high four RBI to lead Southeast Missouri (2-6) to a 9-6 win over Southwestern Athletic Conference member Jackson State (4-3) Friday at the Lion Invitational.
 
SEMO registered a season-high nine runs in the game and collected double-digit hits for the second time in three games.
 
Down, 5-2, the Redhawks rallied for five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead and never turned back.
 
Addisyn Martinie started things off with a one-out double, Sophie Schupp walked and Brittany Affolter singled to load the bases. Kamden Hutton followed with a two-RBI single to score both Martinie and Schupp.
 
Madison Winkler singled through the right side and Affolter scored to tie the game before Wilkins belted a two-out, two-RBI double to center giving SEMO a 7-5 advantage.
 
After JSU pulled within a run in the top of the fifth, the Redhawks countered with run of their own in the bottom half of that inning.
 
Schupp ripped a two-out single up the middle to score pinch-runner Lily Delmain. Delmain ran for Gracie Luna who doubled down the left field line earlier in the frame.
 
Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Raigan Brannon launched her first career home run over the left field wall to put the exclamation point on the victory.
 
Brooklyn Saysoff (1-0) picked up her first career win in the circle. Saysoff allowed just one run on five hits and struck out two in 4.2 relief innings.
 
Maddie Carney pitched a perfect seventh inning to nail down her first save. For Carney, it was also the fourth save of her career.
 
Madison McDowell (2-1) suffered her first loss of the season. McDowell walked two, gave up seven runs and scattered seven hits in two innings.
 
SEMO finished with 11 hits on the day.
 
Winkler and Brannon went 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI to join Wilkins with multiple hits. Hutton added two RBI and two runs scored.
 
All but four of the Redhawks hits came from the top four spots in their lineup.

NICHOLLS 10, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2  (6)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, LOUISIANA TECH 2
YOUNGSVILLE, La. - Eastern Illinois softball rallied in its second game on Friday to split a pair of games at the Mardi Gras Mambo.  EIU lost 10-2 to Nicholls in the opener before bouncing back to beat Louisiana Tech, 4-2.

NICHOLLS 10, EIU 2 (6)
Eastern Illinois jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in their Friday opener at the Mardi Gras Mambo before Nicholls rallied to pick up a 10-2 win over the Panthers.
 
Lexie Griffin drove in the Panthers opening run of the game in the second inning with an RBI double scoring Lizzie Stiverson from second.
 
Nicholls responded in the bottom of the third tying the game at 1-1 on a Ally Mooneyham RBI single to left.  The Colonels took advantage of two EIU errors in the inning to take a 3-1 lead against EIU starting pitcher Karlie McKenzie (0-3).
 
The Panthers trimmed the lead down to one run in the fourth as Stiverson drove home Alisha Frederick.   Frederick was 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the EIU offense with a double.
 
The Colonels went on to score multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to pick up the win and improve to 3-2 on the season.
 
Reagan Heflin had a two-run single in the fifth followed by a sacrifice fly in the sixth driving in three Colonels runs.   Molly Yoo (1-1) pitched the complete game.
 
EIU fell to 2-5 on the season with the loss.  Abbi Hatton joined Frederick and Griffin as Panthers with hits in the game.
 
EIU 4, LOUISIANA TECH 2
Abbi Hatton hit her first home run of the year with a two-run shot in the sixth to lift Eastern Illinois to a 4-2 win over Louisiana Tech improving the Panthers to 3-5 on the season.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the fifth inning, EIU tied the game with a pair of runs in the frame scoring first on a Mo Hance RBI single to left followed by a Sophia Olman RBI single up the middle.

In the sixth, Hatton delivered what proved to be the game winning hit with a two-run shot to right center scoring Alisha Frederick.  Frederick was one of three Panthers to finish the game with two hits going 2-for-4.

Olman (2-for-3) and Lizzie Stiverson (2-for-3) added the other multi-hit performances for EIU.

In the circle Rylan Gick (1-0) picked up her first win of the season with a complete game effort allowing just one earned run with five strikeouts.

Reagan Marchant put Louisiana Tech on top in the third with an RBI groundout in the infield.  The Bulldogs second run came in the fourth inning on an EIU error allowing Carolina Eidson to score.

Elena Heng had three of the six Bulldogs hits while Ruby Fidge (0-1) took the loss in relief for Louisiana Tech as they dropped to 6-1 on the season.

SIUE 5, NORTHWESTERN STATE 0
SAM HOUSTON 2, SIUE 1
YOUNGSVILLE, La. -  Mia Volpert tossed six innings and Avery Arwood closed out the seventh as SIUE softball blanked Northwestern State 5-0 to open the Mardi Gras Mambo at Supreme Rice Field.

SIUE closed out day one of the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Sam Houston.

In game one, Volpert allowed just an infield single in her six innings of work. The Cougar freshman threw 59 pitches and struck out three. Arwood, in her first appearance of the season, struck out two in the scoreless seventh.

SIUE's offense came alive in the fourth inning with a four-run rally.

Volpert helped herself by putting the ball in play and drawing an infield error that brought home Raegan Duncan. Ashley Duran then scored on a wild pitch.

Kaylin Fahy later made it 4-0 with a two-RBI single to cent field, driving home Volpert and Haley Strain.

SIUE added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a successful squeeze bunt by Arissah Garza. Fahy, who doubled to the gap in left center to lead off the inning, scored on the play.

In Friday's second game, the Cougars scored the game's first run in the top of the fifth when a wild pitch from winning pitcher Amy Abke allowed Abby Harvell to score.

Harvell recorded both of SIUE's hits.

Abke outdueled SIUE's Haley Strain, who allowed just five hits over the seven-inning contest. She struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Sam Houston, 5-2, tied the game in the fith on an RBI triple by Morgan Holliday. The eventual game winner came in the sixth on a sacrifice bunt play that plated Sophia Lundtrom unearned.

BUTLER 13, TENNESSEE STATE 11
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State Tigers carried an 11–9 lead into the seventh inning but were unable to close it out, falling 13–11 to the Butler Bulldogs on Friday afternoon at Tiger Field.

Butler struck first with two runs in the opening frame, but Tennessee State quickly answered. In the bottom of the first, Jasmine Blackburn lifted a sacrifice groundout to score Hailey Hunt, and Kyra Taylor followed with a two-run single up the middle to plate Kailyn Jean-Baptist and Jace Jackson, giving the Tigers a 3–2 edge.

The Tigers added to their lead in the second inning. Jackson ripped a two-run triple down the right-field line to bring home Hunt and Alexis Woods, then later scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Blackburn to extend the advantage to 6–2.

Butler chipped away and erupted for five runs across the fourth and fifth innings, highlighted by a two-run double from Hailey Conger and a solo home run from Makena Alexander, to take a 9–6 lead.

Tennessee State responded with its biggest inning of the day in the fifth, pushing across four runs. Mariyah Brown singled home Makena Hawkins, JaKeyla McDaniel added an RBI single, and Hailey Hunt delivered a run-scoring base hit to even the score at 9–9. Jace Jackson capped the rally with an RBI groundout to give the Tigers a 10–9 lead.

An inning later, Jasmine Blackburn came around to score on a Butler error, stretching the Tennessee State lead to 11–9 entering the seventh.

The Bulldogs mounted a final rally in the top of the seventh. Conger delivered a game-tying two-run single before Alexander added a two-run single of her own to put Butler in front for good, 13–11.