Score By Periods

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Baylor BU	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Iowa State ISU	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1

W: Schurman, Lauren (14-10)
L: Walker, Lillie (11-9)

AMES, Iowa – Baylor Softball fell against Iowa State, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The Bears are now 26-25 on the season and 11-12 in conference play. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears got runners on and in scoring position early in its matchup, after Brooklyn Carter and Shaylon Govan recorded back-to-back one-out singles but that would be it for Baylor in the first. 
 
Lillie Walker and the Baylor defense sat the Cyclones down in order in the bottom of the first before capitalizing themselves in the top of the second. 
 
Starting off the second inning with a double from Turiya Coleman, BU brought home its lone run after Amber Toven singled and Coleman scored to make it a 1-0 game. 
 
Tying the game in the home half of the second inning, Iowa State scored on two doubles before Lillie Walker picked up three strikeouts. 
 
Baylor reached base with a single in the third, a double in the fourth and an error in the fifth but Baylor wasn’t able to capitalize after getting a runner to third in the fifth. 
 
After Karynton Dawson hit her second double of the day in the top of the sixth didn’t result in any runs scored, Iowa State capitalized in the bottom of the seventh after two doubles to walk off the game and secure the win. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears recorded seven hits in the matchup
• Brooklyn carter went 2-for-3 at the plate
• Karynton Dawson went 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles
• Turiya Coleman recorded a double and scored the Bears’ lone run
• Lillie Walker pitched her 9^th complete game of the season
• The Bears and Cyclones are now 1-1 on the series
• BU still holds the 46-25 all-time record over Iowa State

 
UP NEXT
The Bears will face Iowa State for the series finale of the three-game series Sunday, May 4, at 12 p.m. CT. 
 

 – BaylorBears.com –

HUNTSVILLE, Texas. – Louisiana Tech softball dropped its regular season finale 3-2 in eight innings to Sam Houston on Sunday afternoon at the Bearkat Softball Complex. The Bulldogs finish the regular season at 30-23 (15-12 CUSA) and will now await their seeding for the upcoming Conference USA tournament next week.  
 
Alyssa Martin and the Bulldogs took a perfect game and a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but SHSU was able to tie the game and force extras as they plated two runs on three hits. Martin tossed 6.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit while striking out two.
 
Allie Floyd (21-13) took the loss after pitching the final 1.1 innings. She allowed two runs on three hits.
 
The Bulldogs were outhit 4-3 by the Bearkats in the loss. Claire Raley, Allie Furr, and KB Briley all collected hits for the Bulldogs. Addison Snyder and Raley drove in one run each, while Alexis Gilio and Furr scored LA Tech’s runs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
LA Tech jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning after plating two runs on one hit. Gilio was hit by a pitch to start the game and advanced 60 feet to second on a Reagan Marchant walk. Raley doubled to left center to score Gilio, while Snyder recorded a sac fly to score Marchant.
 
The Bulldogs recorded one hit in the fifth and one in the seventh but could not get either runner past second base.
 
Down 2-0 and hitless entering the seventh, the Bearkats plated two runs on three hits to force extra innings. SHSU used back-to-back doubles to start the half and plated their first run on the second double. With one runner on, a groundout to first allowed a runner to reach third, followed by a single up the middle to tie the game at two apiece.
 
The Bearkats used a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn the 3-2 win.
 
NOTABLES
The Bulldogs move to 21-15 all-time against SHSU.
Today’s game was the fourth extra inning contest of the season for the Bulldogs.
Claire Raley recorded her seventh double of the season.
Alyssa Martin recorded a new career-high with 6.0 innings pitched in the circle.
Alyssa Martin registered her 20^th strikeout of the season.
 
UP NEXT
LA Tech will now await its seeding for the upcoming Conference USA Tournament. The tournament kicks off Wednesday in Bowling Green, Ky., on the campus of Western Kentucky.  
 

ATHENS — SEC Network stars Chris Doering and Peter Burns came right out and said last week what some around the league have been thinking.

Georgia football enters the 2025 season atop the SEC, but the program’s air of dominance has been shaken by transfer portal and NIL dealings.“I don’t know if we’ve ever gone into a season with more questions marks about Georgia since maybe after Kirby’s second year,” Doering told DawgNation.

“We’ve always felt good about their depth and next man up, but the questions about the quarterback position are legitimate, and you look at the way they were physically beaten up by Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl — we don’t see that when teams play Kirby’s Bulldogs — so there are legitimate questions about how far the gap is.

“I don’t think anyone has necessarily passed them, but they aren’t head and shoulders above everyone else like they had been for the last five or six years.”

Burns has picked Georgia to win the SEC the past four seasons, but he gives the edge to Texas with the 2025 season approaching.

“It’s more of a 1A and 1B, and I give Texas the edge because of Arch (Manning), their schedule and the NIL money,” Burns told DawgNation. “But I’m not saying there’s going to be a major drop-off or 8-4 season or anything like that.”

Smart, himself, has shared the challenges the 2025 Bulldogs have coming up this season with an inexperienced quarterback leading a very young roster.

“Mental and physical toughness, I think, is one of the number one areas we can get better at,” Smart said after seeing mixed results from his offense in the annual G-Day spring scrimmage last month.

“Grow, have more guys that can play winning football.”

Smart gave a mixed review on QB Gunner Stockton after the G-Day game when asked how the fourth-year sophomore had improved the most in the spring session.

“Confidence, understanding the offense, knowing when to take a shot, which he didn’t do a great job today,” Smart said. “He had a couple times where he could have thrown the ball or checked it down. He took shots that he probably didn’t have to.

“But he’s done a really good job with his feet, his legs. He made plays with his legs today, and I thought Ryan (Puglisi) did too.”

Stockton, of course, came on in relief of starter Carson Beck in the 22-19 SEC Championship Game win over Texas and was the starter in the 23-10 CFP Quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

Stockton was 20-of-32 passing for 234 yards with a touchdown against the Irish but was sacked four times and had a fumble that directly led to a Notre Dame touchdown.

It’s fair to say Stockton enters the 2025 season an unproven commodity, just as there will be new faces on the offensive and defensive lines.

Georgia had four starting offensive linemen and four defensive line veterans move on to the NFL.

“There’s a lot of big bodies for us that had to be replaced, and we’re not where we need to be on the line of scrimmage,” Smart said. “I’m very pleased with the kids we have, I’m just not pleased with where we are. We have to get better.”

Some have written off Smart’s comments as a championship level coach always pushing for more improvement.

But Doering explained why there’s more reason for concern that in the past at Georgia, and it has everything to do with the transfer portal and the unlimited NIL funds, as the House vs. NCAA settlement does not yet have a final ruling.

“We’re seeing things we haven’t seen from Georgia before, we’re seeing the inability to retain the roster,” Doering said in an SEC Network Instagram clip.

“They were one of the last schools to be able to keep their team and have the kind of depth you have to depth to win championships …. They go and get manhandled by Ole Miss the way they did, they get physically beaten by Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, these are things that are signs of concern.”

Burns, in the SEC Network clip, noted how the formula has changed for powerhouse programs like Georgia and the Alabama teams led by Nick Saban.

“They were built on the foundation of, ‘I have a draft pick, and then the backup of the draft pick is a draft pick, and the backup of that draft pick is a freshman who will become a draft pick,’ “ Burns said.

“That stacking of talent is no longer available because of NIL and the transfer portal.”

Burns said the trend begs a question.

“If Georgia is a team that has struggled, is it Texas that’s now the superpower of the SEC, going back to back in their college football playoff runs, and they are spending $35 to $40 million on this roster?” Burns said.

“If you’re looking at the numbers, the SEC does not run through Georgia, the SEC powerhouse is the Texas Longhorns.”

White House officials said that President Donald Trump‘s administration is “considering an executive order that could increase scrutiny of the explosion in payments to college athletes” since 2021, after Trump met with former college football coach Nick Saban. Saban “talked about ‘NIL’ deals with Trump, telling the president how he believed the influx of money had damaged college sports.” The pending House settlement would allow schools to pay athletes directly from the billions of dollars in revenue. Sources said that Trump “said he agreed with Saban and would look at crafting an executive order.” Sources added that Trump “told aides to begin studying what an order could say.” A source said that Saban “didn’t propose ending NIL but ‘reforming’ it.” The source added Saban “described how it was causing an uneven playing field” with an “arms race among powerhouse schools.” The NCAA declined to comment on a potential executive order (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/2).

JACKSONVILLE – The Atlantic Sun Conference has unveiled its 2025 Softball Championship bracket that has Austin Peay State University’s softball team as the No. 5 seed. The Governors will begin their postseason stay against the winner of No. 8 Jacksonville and No. 9 North Alabama at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.

Austin Peay’s (37-14, 14-10 ASUN) fifth seed in the tournament is its highest since joining the league prior to the 2023 season. 

With a win against Jacksonville (22-26, 9-15 ASUN) or North Alabama (30-20, 10-14 ASUN), Austin Peay would advance out of the single-elimination portion of the tournament. Their next game would be at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday against No. 4 Stetson.

A complete bracket, game times, and more can be found at the link atop this article. A full preview of the Governors’ 2025 postseason run will posted tomorrow.

Follow #Team40 on Socials

For news and updates throughout the 2025 softball season, follow the Governors on X and Instagram (@GovsSB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com for stories and schedule updates.

OLEAN, N.Y. – The Saint Joseph’s softball team broke out the bats with 26 runs across two games as the Hawks swept a twinbill from St. Bonaventure. St. Joe’s won the completion of a suspended game 12-2 to open the day and won the second contest 14-4 in five innings.
 
SERIES BY THE NUMBERS

• Meghan Sinkus had a huge series, collecting five hits overall and reached base safely eight times.
• She drove in six runs in the middle game of the set, the most for a St. Joe’s player since Caela Abadie had seven against La Salle on April 23, 2021.
• Riley York and Kayla Tauber each posted four hits.
• SJU pitching allowed just six earned runs for the weekend.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME TWO OF THE SERIES

• Prior to the game being suspended on Saturday, the Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead. In the second, Sinkus singled, moved to second on a sac bunt and stole third before an RBI double from Riley York brought her home.
• SJU had runners on the corners with two outs in the third when Sinkus came up big again, delivering an RBI triple, plating Kayla Tauber and Sierra Fretz. After Jenna Currie was hit by a pitch, York came through with her second run scoring hit in as many innings, singling back through the middle to plate Sinkus for a 4-0 lead.
• Starting the fourth, St. Joe’s saw Kasi Loser come up with a leadoff walk. Sarah Cancila followed two batters later before the rain became too intense and ended play for the day.
• Opening Sunday with two on and one out, Hailey Malito walked to load the bases before Sinkus did the same, forcing home Loser for a 5-0 lead.
• In the fifth with one out, Saint Joseph’s struck again. A Hailey Peterson triple was followed by a Loser walk and a bases clearing double from Tauber to make it 7-0. Tauber came in to score two batters later on an RBI groundout.
• The Bonnies got on the board in the bottom of the inning as the wet weather led to a pair of unearned runs.
• The Hawks put the game away in the seventh, scoring four more runs, keyed by a bases loaded triple from Sinkus, giving her six RBI on the day.
• In the circle, Jules Scogna (7-3) was masterful, tossing her third complete game of the season. She scattered eight hits and struck out a career-high eight as well as getting 10 ground ball out.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME THREE OF THE SERIES

• SJU wasted no time getting on the board with a pair of runs in the first on a throwing error and a sac fly from York to go up 2-0.
• After the Bonnies got one of the runs back in the bottom of the frame, St. Joe’s scored once in the second and twice in the third, the big shots in the latter inning being an RBI double from Jenna Currie and a run scoring single by Morgan Lester to push the edge to 5-1.
• St. Bonaventure did not go away, scoring three in the third. With those tallies across and a runner on second with no outs, Marla Freiwald came out of the bullpen, retiring the next three batters, two of them on strikes.
• The offense exploded in the next couple innings as the Hawks scored six in the fourth and three in the fifth. Keying the offense in the frames were RBI extra base hits from Fretz, York, and a homerun from Currie.
• In relief, Freiwald (8-3) delivered three scoreless innings, striking out two while surrendering just two hits.

 
UP NEXT
The Hawks get set to compete in the Atlantic 10 Softball Championship starting on Wednesday, May 7. Information about the time and opponent will be announced later on Sunday.