HOUSTON – Despite dropping two one-run contests to the HCU Huskies on Friday afternoon via scores of 2-1 and 3-2, respectively, at the Husky Field, the East Texas A&M University softball team controls its own destiny to clinch a postseason berth going into the final day of the season.
 
The Lions fell to 9-40 on the season and 5-21 in Southland Conference play, while the Huskies clinched the seventh seed in next week’s Southland Conference Tournament by improving to 17-30 on the season and 10-16 in SLC action.
 

East Texas A&M and A&M-Corpus Christi are tied for eighth place in the SLC standings going into Saturday’s season finale for both teams. The Lions own the tiebreaker over the Islanders and need either a win over the Huskies or a loss by the Islanders at Northwestern State to clinch a spot into the eight-team conference tournament.
 
Game One: HCU 2, EAST TEXAS A&M 1
On the second pitch of the game, Tatum Wright (Frisco – Centennial) drilled her tenth home run of the season, putting the Lions ahead in the game.
 
Chloe Foster doubled down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the third for the Huskies. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jaycee Foor and came around to score on an infield RBI single by Jocelyn Briseno.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Maddy Bailey drilled a solo home run to right center, putting the Huskies ahead. The Lions left five runners on base, while the Huskies left seven.
 
Both Charli Anger (Lubbock – Cooper) and KK Cosek (Helendale, Calif.) collected two hits each for the Lions in the game. In the heart of the HCU order, Bailey, Hanna York, and Ella Herrewig went 2 for 3 each in the game.
 
Kate Houser (Lorena) took the loss for the Lions, surrendering two earned runs in the complete game loss, while Cara Pitman allowed seven hits and struck out four, but the only earned run on allowed on her ledger was the home run to Wright.
 
Game Two: HCU 3, EAST TEXAS A&M 2
Haylie Savage was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first for HCU. Heidi Maytum reached on a fielder’s choice as the Lions tagged out Savage at second on the play. Karlie Barba followed with a double down the left field line as Maytum came around to score, while Barba also scored on the play due to a Lion throwing error.
 
Wright hit second solo home run of the day and 11^th on the season as she brought the Lions within one in the fourth inning.
 
In the top of the seventh, Anger doubled to left center and came around to score to tie the game as Emma Rodrigues (Little Elm – John Paul II) reached on a throwing error. The Lions left two runners on base to end the inning and left six on base in the game.
 
Herrewig reached on a throwing error by the Lions on a bunt to lead off the bottom of the seventh. After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Morris, the Lions forced a strikeout and were strike away from sending the game into extra innings, but Briseno singled up the middle to plate Herrewig and walk it off for HCU.
 
Wright had two hits in the game for the Lions, while Briseno went 2 for 3 for the Huskies. Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) tossed 6.2 innings in the loss, being charged for just one earned run. Leah Hammack allowed two earned runs in the complete game win for the Huskies.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions and the Huskies end the regular season at noon on Saturday.

 

-ETAMU-

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Middle Tennessee softball suffered a defeat to the NM State Aggies on Friday, April 25 in game one of the series. The score was 5-4.

The Blue Raiders (23-25, 10-12) led for much of the game vs. the Aggies (23-24, 10-12), but failed to hold the lead in the sixth and seventh innings. Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an Addy Edgmon RBI double that scored Ava Tepe, before Macie Harter drove Edgmon home on an RBI single to bring the score to 2-0.

MTSU added on to the lead in the fifth inning with another RBI from Macie Harter, her 10th of the season. In the sixth inning, Ava Brooks ripped another RBI single past the second basemen to score Lilly Pendergrast. The Aggies then scored three runs in the bottom of the inning before scoring two more in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

By the Numbers

• 22: Addy Edgmon leads the team with 22 extra-base hits after tallying two doubles today.
• 38: Ava Tepe was hit by the 38th pitch of her career, setting a new program record.

Up next
The Blue Raiders will take on the Aggies for game two tomorrow at 5:00 pm CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at Stat Broadcast.

FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS     

Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball). 

 

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Memphis (17-31, 4-18 AAC) softball dropped the opening game of its series against RV Florida Atlantic (39-9, 18-4 AAC), 24-2, Friday evening at Joan Joyce Field.
 
“I was proud of Drue Thomas for competing and coming up with a big first-inning home run,” said head coach Trena Prater. “You have to tip your hat to FAU for taking advantage of our mistakes. We have to be better in the circle; we walked and hit too many batters. We have to find a way to keep the ball in the park and play error-free defense. We have to want it every pitch, offensively and defensively.”
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tigers established a lead in their fourth at-bat of the contest, as Drue Thomas sent a shot to left field for a two-run home run.
• Florida Atlantic regained the lead in the bottom half of the frame, bringing nine runs home on just three hits.

  • The first run for FAU came on a fielder’s choice with a defensive error.
  • The next three runs came around on bases-loaded walks.
  • Kylie Hammonds recorded FAU’s first hit of the contest in her second at-bat, as the Owls batted around in the first.
  • Kylie Channell followed up with a single that brought two more runs home.
  • A close play with a fielding error on a ball hit by Jesiana Mora brought Channell home for the ninth run of the inning.
  • An infield single legged out by Destiny Johns scored Mora for FAU’s 10th run.  

• The Owls added a run in the second inning on an RBI double by Kylie Hammonds.
• FAU tallied four runs in the third inning.

  • Jesiana Mora began the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run.
  • An RBI single by Destiny Johns followed by a two-run home run by Bella Cimino gave FAU a 15-2 lead.

• In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Owls put up seven more runs.

  • Emily Ching hit a two-RBI double to right center in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Owls a 15-run lead.

    • Ching had entered as a defensive replacement during the previous inning.

  • An infield single off the bat of Bella Cimino brought home Florida Atlantic’s third run of the inning.
  • Corin Dammeier recorded an RBI single in the next at-bat, scoring Abby Ota.

    • Ota had also entered as a defensive replacement.

  • An RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Yani Guzman, who entered as a pinch hitter, made the score 20-2 in favor of FAU.
  • Kylie Channell brought in her second and third RBI of the game with a single to left field.
  • Emily Ching recorded her second hit on a two-RBI single.

    • Ching finished the inning with two hits and four RBI.

• Memphis was sent down in order to end the game.
  
   

NOTABLES

• FAU’s 10-run first inning stands as the highest single-inning run total allowed by the Tigers this season.
• The 22-run margin of defeat is tied for the largest in program history.

  • It is tied with a 22-0 loss to Wichita State during the 2022 season.

• All four of Memphis’ pitchers appeared in the contest with Taniyah Brown taking the loss, moving to 4-6 on the season.
• Drue Thomas finished with a 1-for-2 performance, hitting a two-run home run for Memphis’ only runs of the game.
• Ariel Davis recorded Memphis’ only other hit of the evening, going 1-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt.
• Kennedy Semien reached on a walk and scored on Thomas’s home run in the first inning.
• Zoe Adebayo‘s six-game streak of reaching base is snapped after failing to reach in two at-bats.

 
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to rebound in game two of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.  

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS

For complete information on Memphis Tigers Softball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team’s social media channels on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

 

 

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Twice in the final innings, Baylor softball was poised to close out BYU and clinch a huge series win Friday night at Getterman Stadium.
 
But the Bears “let it slip away,” giving up two runs each in the sixth and seventh inning in falling to the Cougars, 4-3, to split the first two games of a crucial three-game series.
 
After freshman Karynton Dawson hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to put Baylor (24-24, 9-11) back on top, 3-2, the Cougars (30-13, 12-8) answered again with a 2-spot in the top of the seventh off Lillie Walker (10-8).
 
“We had opportunities earlier, I thought, that we didn’t take advantage of. But honestly, I never felt comfortable, because I know what they do,” Baylor coach Glenn Moore said. “They never throw the towel in. . . . I thought we played our hearts out and certainly answered with KD’s home run, but we came out on the short end.”
 
That’s a tough pill to swallow for a team with its NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, coming into the weekend with its RPI ranking at No. 55. BYU is on the bubble as well at No. 46, even before Thursday’s 2-0 loss in the series opener.
 
“That’s what’s so disappointing is you get that close to knocking one more (win) out of the way and let it slip away,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of people that think the winner of this series is going to be the final team taken from the Big 12. I think there’s too much to happen between now and then to make that decision . . . but this is a huge series for both of us.”
 
Baylor freshman Sadie Ross took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, retiring the first 13 batters she faced before giving up a one-out single up the middle by Keila Kamoku. With a pair of runners in scoring position after a two-base error, Ross got out of it when Bre Thomas lined out to first to end the inning.
 
No such luck in the sixth.
 
This time, Walker came out of the bullpen with runners at second and third and nobody out. She got the lead runner at home on a grounder to short, but Lindy Milkowski delivered a game-tying RBI single to right and Kamoku gave BYU its first lead of the series with a sac fly to right.
 
“I guess that’s the sad part of what happened here today,” Moore said. “This would have been another marquee win for (Ross). She pitched well enough to get the win, and we couldn’t hang on to it for her. But certainly, it’s promising to see her do this against good hitters.”
 
In the bottom of the sixth, cleanup hitter Turiya Coleman reached on a one-out bunt single and went all the way around to third on a throwing error by the catcher.
 
“She’s a power hitter, a great hitter, and you don’t expect it out of that type of hitter,” Moore said of Coleman, who had a pair of bunt singles in Thursday’s 2-0 win. “But she’s been doing it for so long, I don’t know how it surprises people. It was a good bunt. She’ll catch you sleeping, for sure.”
 
Dawson followed a hit that traveled a few feet in front of the plate with a towering two-run shot down the rightfield line that traveled 213 feet for her second home run of the season.
 
“It felt great, honestly, to do it on Senior Weekend for my seniors,” Dawson said. “I’m just doing what I can to help them, because they’ve helped me.”
 
Staked to a 3-2 lead and facing the bottom of the order in the seventh, Walker was in prime position to pick up her second win of the weekend and 11^th of the season. But the Cougars loaded the bases with nobody out on a pair of hits and a walk, scoring the tying run when Hailey Morrow was hit by a pitch.
 
Freshman Ilove’a Brittingham is still hitless for the weekend, going 0-for-5, but she came through with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Miranda Mansfield with the go-ahead run.
 
“I think Lillie’s been carrying us for so long, to beat her up over one bad outing for a couple of innings wouldn’t be fair to her,” Moore said. “I just like to give credit to what adjustments they made for her. Certainly, it changes the whole look whenever you bring her in from the left side and the lower velocity. So, I just tip my hat more so to what they did than what she didn’t do.”
 
Baylor freshman Faith Piper, who was 3-for-3 for the night, gave the Bears a chance in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out double to the gap in left-center field. She moved up to third on a fly to right by Presleigh Pilon, but Kaysen Korth picked up her fifth save when she retired Brooklyn Carter on a grounder to first base.
 
The Bears will try to bounce back in Saturday’s 12 p.m. series finale, when 11 seniors will be recognized in a postgame ceremony.
 
“Every game is big at this point,” Dawson said, “so we’re going to come out ready to go.”

WACO, Texas – Baylor Softball dropped game two of the three-game series against BYU, 4-3, Friday night at Getterman Stadium. The Bears are now 24-24 on the season and 9-11 in Big 12 play. 

 

THE RUNDOWN

Sadie Ross started the game in the circle retiring the first 13 Cougars of the game before allowing a hit in the top of the fifth inning. 

 

The Bears tried to threaten early after Shaylon Govan walked in the first and Abi Flores singled in the second but that would be it until the third when the Bears struck first. 

 

After a leadoff double from Faith Piper in the bottom of the third, Presleigh Pilon moved her to third on a sacrifice bunt. Brooklyn Carter then laced a single up the middle to bring home Piper and give Baylor the 1-0 advantage. 

 

With its first hit of the game in the top of the fourth, BYU threatened with runners on second and third after a single and a Baylor fielding error, but the Bears were able to work out of the jam. 

 

BYU battled back in the top of the sixth, after capitalizing on a hit batter, a walk and a couple of hits to go ahead 2-1. 

 

In the bottom half of the sixth, Turiya Coleman laid down a bunt to put one on for Karynton Dawson who launched her second home run of the season over the wall in right center to put Baylor back up 3-2. 

 

Continuing the lead changes, BYU plated two runs on a double and bases loaded hit-by-pitch in the top half of the last inning to again put the Cougars on top, 4-3. 

 

Baylor tried to tie things up in the bottom of the seventh when Piper roped a one-out double to the wall in left centerfield before moving to third on a fly out but an unassisted groundout ended the Bears’ chance at the comeback.  

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears out-hit the Cougars 7-5
• Faith Piper went 3-for-3 at the plate with two doubled and a run scored
• Four other Bears recorded hits
• Karynton Dawson hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot
• Brooklyn Carter picked up an RBI
• Shaylon Govan drew two walks
• Sadie Ross pitched five scoreless innings, only allowing two hits
• BYU evened the three-game series 1-1
• The Cougars now hold the all-time record over the Bears 6-5

 
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will face BYU for game three of the three-game series Saturday, April 26 at 12 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.    
 

 – BaylorBears.com –

BOCA RATON, Fla. – In a historic offensive showing, the No. 25 Florida Atlantic softball team set a program record in runs with a 24-2 victory over Memphis to open its final home series of the 2025 season on Friday evening.
 
The Owls (38-9, 18-4) exploded out of the gate with 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning and did not let up, culminating with nine additional runs in the fourth to break the school’s record that stood for 30 years.
 
After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, junior pitcher Autumn Courtney and senior Gabby Sacco combined to keep the Tigers (17-31, 4-18) scoreless the rest of the way.
 

The Tigers began the outing with a two-run home run in the game’s opening frame before Courtney recorded her second strikeout to retire the side.
 
In what has become a common occurrence, redshirt sophomore outfielder Kylie Hammonds recorded a leadoff walk for the first of 15 plate appearances in the bottom of the first inning. With a single to second base, junior third baseman Jesiana Mora logged the game’s first RBI. Four consecutive walks loaded the bases to bring in three more runs.
 
Back-to-back hits from Hammonds and sophomore shortstop Kiley Channell brought home four. Freshman Destiny Johns logged the last hit of the inning, scoring Mora for the second time to put double digits on the board.
 

The Owls added a run off an RBI double from Hammonds in the bottom of the second. 
 
Bats then returned in the third frame with homers from Mora and sophomore Bella Cimino to give FAU their season high of 15 runs.
 

With the run-rule already in reach, Florida Atlantic kept their foot on the gas in the bottom of the fourth, with 12 consecutive base runners to open the inning. Several freshman Owls received opportunities off the bench, most notably Emilie Ching who launched a double to right center field for her first career hit to score two. 
 
A two-run single from Channell put 22 on the board, breaking the previous record of 20. FAU added the final two runs with Ching’s second hit of the inning. The defense went one-two-three in the top of the fifth to put the history-making game officially in the record books.
 

 

Coach Clark after a record-breaking night#WIP pic.twitter.com/4KoTu8RUGx

— Florida Atlantic Softball (@FAUSoftball) April 26, 2025

 

• Florida Atlantic now has six run-rule wins in American Athletic Conference play and 12 during the season, the most since its debut campaign in 1995.
• 17 total hits by the Owls are the most in a game by the team since 2015.
• Mora tied the single-game program record with five runs. She also takes the team’s lead in home runs on the season with eight and added two stolen bases to remain a perfect 16-for-16 in attempts. 
• 11 different FAU batters recorded an RBI, led by Ching with four. Hammonds, Channell, and Cimino each had three.
• Hammonds has reached base in 17 consecutive games and 44 out of 48 appearances in 2025.
• Courtney had five strikeouts in three innings of work and is up to 144 total on the season, upping her AAC lead to 34 more than second place. 

 

Game two’s first pitch is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
 

For the Owls’ complete schedule, click HERE. To follow the team socially, visit @fausoftball, or for the most up-to-date information, go to www.fausports.com.
 

Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is known to be a bit wordy, so we’re giving him 1,000 words (but no more than that) every Friday to share his thoughts from the week that was in the world of sports.

* STEVE ALFORD APPROACHED the podium where Alex Meruelo was standing inside Lawlor Events Center this week to add his thoughts on the proposed Grand Sierra Resort Arena where his Nevada basketball team would play. Alford said the Wolf Pack needed the facility “desperately,” adding it was a case of survival for Nevada athletics as it tries to keep up in the increasingly expensive game of college athletics. Alford said he’s been in constant conversation about the facility project with Meruelo, the GSR’s owner. “I’ve had a crazy amount of talks with him and he’s about undefeated, he’s about national championships; I love that,” Alford said as the 50 people in attendance laughed. “That’s all true,” Meruelo chimed in.

* THE EXPECTATIONS WEREN’T set quite so high by university president Brian Sandoval, who speaking a couple minute earlier, said the Final Four was a goal, perhaps half-jokingly. Obviously, this trio, plus the others who spoke, were selling the vision and the potential. They had to aim high painting that vision. Nevada basketball has had great teams before but never gotten past the Sweet 16, the level it reached in 2004 and again in 2018. Since Alford took over six years ago, the Wolf Pack has twice reached the NCAA Tournament but not advanced, March being a painful month for Nevada fans during his tenure thus far. Could a new state-of-the-art $435 million arena change that?

* NEVADA MEN’S BASKETBALL has settled in as a good-but-not-championship-level Mountain West program post-Eric Musselman, going 113-75 overall and 61-48 in league under Alford with two 20-win seasons in six years. It’s harder now than ever before to win at the mid-major level with unprecedented transfers and unlimited name, image and likeness payments. If you have a great basketball player at a school like Nevada enjoy him for one season because that’s how long you’ll have him. Mid-major schools like Nevada need something that separates it. This arena, if built, could be a much needed spark for the program, which the Wolf Pack and this community have poured more money and emotional investment into than any other.

* THE DILEMMA — and there’s always a dilemma — is the public-money request. GSR Arena will only be built, the resort has said, if it gets $68 million in tax-increment financing toward phase one’s $786 million price tag (the arena alone is estimated at $435 million). That’s a 9 percent public subsidy of the total cost. That’s a reasonable ask when looking at the funding models of other arena/stadium builds in Nevada. Of course, Meruelo is a billionaire who a year ago this month sold his NHL team back to the league for $1 billion. Would I like to see him use that money to build this arena with no public money? Yes. Does it pencil out for Reno if he does get that TIF funding? Almost certainly. We’ll see if that handout is approved May 7.

* ASSUMING IT IS and the arena is built, Nevada basketball could become a West Coast juggernaut again like it was under Trent Johnson/Mark Fox and again under Musselman. And it’s not just because of the arena. Meruelo was one of the Wolf Pack’s early investors in NIL and remains so, helping to bankroll Nevada basketball’s player salaries (let’s be real, that’s what NIL is). If the team played on his property, that NIL money should only increase. He’d want a great team playing in a great arena and be wise to pay for such a team if he’s asking for undefeated national championship seasons. Imagine what could happen if he and a couple other boosters funded a $5 million-per-year roster. The Final Four doesn’t seem as outlandish.

* MERUELO SAID DURING that meeting with Wolf Pack boosters this week that basketball was his “first love,” and he did once try and buy the Atlanta Hawks before that deal fell apart, which has been the story of his life at the big-league professional level. With the Coyotes now sold, Meruelo could go all-in from a sports perspective on the Wolf Pack as well as his American Hockey League team, currently in Tucson and slated to move to Reno if GSR Arena is built. Meruelo could put his full sports focus, financially and emotionally, on the Wolf Pack. While I’m not saying that will happen, one big-time donor can push a program a far distance if so inclined.

* THIS IS WHY I’ve argued NIL is not a death sentence for college athletics or mid-majors. Fans of those schools are upset because they continually lose players. But don’t blame the players for wanting to maximize their market value. Blame the schools for not being able to produce the revenue to keep players. Schools that tap into that revenue can become really good, really fast. The dream, if you’re a Nevada basketball fan, is this arena is built and there’s a billionaire backer attached who will do what it takes and is incentivized to achieve a Final Four dream. Will this all happen? We don’t know. But the combination of the arena and an NIL benefactor is tantalizing.

* THE WOLF PACK’S who’s who was at this week’s gathering at Lawlor Events Center with athletic director Stephanie Rempe calling the arena a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Sandoval saying of the arena’s potential “this bus stops once” and Alford adding it would push the basketball program and university to another level. With Final Four dreams, this arena not being built would be a crushing blow to the Wolf Pack athletic department. Its construction wouldn’t guarantee anything in future competitiveness, but it not being built would be the same-old, same-old, and Nevada can’t afford that.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.