Bartow, FL - The 23rd-ranked McKendree University Softball team was wheels up on Saturday, having flown down to the sunny landscape of Florida to play in the popular collegiate softball tournament, The Spring Games. The Bearcats (14-5) were tasked with matchups against the Sioux Falls Cougars (11-9) and Dominican Chargers (0-12) to get a busy week started. The two games would take on different trajectories, with Sioux Falls sneaking ahead at the end of the game to win 4-2 and snap McKendree's 5-game win streak before the Bearcats brought out the long ball to defeat Dominican 8-0 in run-rule fashion to secure a split of the day, with still five games left in the Sunshine State.
GAME ONE | SIOUX FALLS 4, #23 McKENDREE 2
The game against the Cougars started off as a pitcher's duel. Sioux Falls struck first on an RBI single in the top of the third, but neither team scored in the fourth or fifth.
Both offenses found a seam in the latter going. For McKendree, back-to-back RBI hits from
Lauren Harris and
Jasmine Myers gave the Bearcats a one-run lead with not much softball left to play with, but consecutive strikeouts snuffed any further scoring and sent the game to the seventh.
Down to the wire, the Cougars drew a hit by pitch in the top of the seventh, but that was followed by a pop out and a groundout to put Sioux Falls down to their final out. The Cougars came through with crucial and timely hitting, getting two RBI doubles and an RBI single, all in consecutive fashion to storm back ahead 4-2.
Molly Bartz drew a walk to create traffic for the Bearcats in the bottom of the seventh, but a double play followed to thwart the comeback attempt.
Sami Huck pitched nearly the entirety of the game, going 6.2 innings, while not allowing a walk and striking out six Cougars.
GAME TWO | #25 McKENDREE 8, DOMINICAN 0 (5 INN.)
If the second game of the day, now against Dominican, was broken down by just the first few innings, it may have looked as if it was headed for another low-scoring bout, with McKendree taking a slim 1-0 lead in the second on a
Katie Beagle RBI single.
After the Bearcat defense turned a double play (
Lauren Harris to
Jasmine Myers 6-3), the McKendree bats went to work and some. In the span of three pitches, Harris and Myers had homered - Harris on the first pitch of the inning and Myers on a mere 1-0 count. After
Ali Grenzebach drew a four-pitch walk,
Trista Moore brought her home with a homer on another early count, this time 1-1. The Moore homer had propelled the Bearcats to a 5-0 lead in the third.
McKendree set the table for a golden scoring opportunity in the fourth when
Laynee Tapp, Harris, and Myers strung together consecutive singles to load the bases with nobody out in the top of the fourth. A Moore RBI single and
Grace Cavanaugh RBI sacrifice fly made it 7-0 with two outs before
Molly Bartz made run rule a possibility, setting what would become the final score.
Beagle, Harris, and
Rudy Dobbins teamed up for another twin killing in the fourth to keep the run-rule margin in play, and despite stranding a
Lily Consolino double,
Ellie Vetter and the McKendree defense held Dominican to a walk and hit by pitch with no further advancement for either in the innings.
By game's end, Vetter and
Olivia Tipton, who'd started the game, had combined for the five innings, just two hits, a walk, and a strikeout.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
2026 Spring Games
vs. Clarion Golden Eagles (4-2) & Edinboro Fighting Scots (0-4)
Sunday, March 8th - 9:00 AM & 11:30 AM*
at Bartow Sports Complex - Bartow, FL
*For the ease of Bearcat fans, times displayed are Central time despite the games occurring in the eastern time zone.
