East Peoria, IL - The 15th-ranked McKendree University Softball team had a battle on their hands on Thursday afternoon, taking on the Missouri S&T Miners in another round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at Eastside Centre. On the surface, it could have been a slugfest, with Missouri S&T (36-16) and McKendree (42-12) being the top two teams in the GLVC in home runs. Mother Nature wasn't exactly conducive to such records, but the Bearcats' Laynee Tapp was able to hit one inside-the-park, plus RBI from Ali Grenzebach and Addie Clark powered the bats. That, coupled with a 3-hit shutout from Sami Huck in the circle, and McKendree would move on to the Tournament Semifinal with a 6-0 victory over the Miners.
Both teams would get two runners on base in the first inning, mirroring singles from the two and three spots of the lineup, but neither inning resulted in any scoring.
Huck and the Miners' AJ Agers would trade 1-2-3 innings, and after Huck followed with another such inning in the third, McKendree's first of two big innings would follow, not before Lauren Harris would leap up in the air for a lineout catch in that top of the third. At the top of the order, Huck helped herself out with a leadoff walk. After Harris reached on a fielder's choice, a double from Jasmine Myers put two runners in scoring position, then a walk from Laynee Tapp loaded the bases. Grenzebach worked the count full and drew an RBI walk for the first run of the game. With Trista More at the plate, a two-run error gave McKendree a 3-0 lead through three innings.
After both teams had a relatively quiet fourth inning, the weather decided to rear its head again, this time a bit more dramatically. While both sides were about to warm up for the top of the fifth, the game was halted for a lightning delay. Sure enough, a cell soon passed over Eastside Centre that warranted just over an hour delay.
Any delay can be tricky to navigate, especially a somewhat sizable one like Thursday's. Eyes were on both sides to see if either side would crack after such a long resting period. Huck would get a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout looking in the top half. In the bottom half, Laynee Tapp took the first pitch of her at-bat down the right field line, evading a diving right fielder for the Miners, and Heather Tarter was giving Tapp the green light all the way for an inside the park home run. That, coupled with the quick inning from Huck seemed to have given the Bearcats the momentum they needed. Three batters later, Addie Clark lined a two-run double to the left center field gap and McKendree had pulled away, up 6-0 through five.
Huck set down the first three after the delay, and quite frankly, didn't even allow a single baserunner from that point forward. A flyout to Molly Bartz, followed by a groundout and lineout to Harris ended the game. The Bearcats took their 42nd win, setting a new single-season program record, surpassing the 2007 team in the NAIA era that went (41-14).
SHE SAID IT - QUOTE FROM LAYNEE TAPP
On her inside-the-park home run
"Once I saw it land, I saw her on the ground, and it just kept rolling. I was like 'oh, I'm going to keep going'. Then I came around second, and I saw Tarter still waving her arm. My eyes got really big when she told me to go four, and luckily, I was safe."
SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM SAMI HUCK
On the mindset of a pitcher sitting through an extensive weather delay
"I really just try and stay locked in, even though my teammates are always making me laugh. They let me stay calm and stay locked in, but then they also take the stress off my back as well."
On the importance of the mental state as opposed to physical recovery in a delay
"It is very, very important. I know that whenever my mental game is not strong, like in that first inning, I was a little nervous. Once I got locked in and my mental state was good, knowing that I deserve to be here, that's when it kind of flipped."
On what a shutout at this tournament means to her, as a pitcher but also bigger picture
"It means everything to me, but I can also just give it back to my teammates as well. I mean, so many people made good plays in the outfield and in the infield. They also gave me a chance to stay calm because of those six runs."
SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM HEATHER TARTER
On navigating the weather delay from her perspective
"There were three teams that went into the hitting facility, and our team was just locked in, sitting together. Our team understands that we're here to win. The job wasn't finished, and we were able to stay locked in and be ready when it was time to play."
On if there was any need for conversation or concern with Sami Huck going into or after the delay
"Well, as we walked off the field, her dad told her to make sure she stays ready and stays warm. That's the confidence, the background of where she came from. There's not a whole lot of conversations we have to have with her. She was there to get the job done, and she was probably the most locked in and focused that I've seen her."
On balancing hitting the post-delay reset button whilst also not being satisfied with a 3-0 lead
"Having an older group really helps in understanding situations we've been in in the past. We've had leads and lost them. We knew that S&T is a really good hitting team. I mean, both of us lead the conference in home runs, so we knew they had all the confidence in the world that they could come back. We just went in there one pitch at a time."
On if she thought the first run after the delay would be an inside-the-park home run
"Definitely not, but Laynee Tapp was definitely due. She was seeing the ball really well with a couple walks there. She's not typically one that swings at the first pitch, but I'd mentioned that she'd (the Missouri S&T pitcher) started to hang some pitches, and she (Tapp) was ready for one. Once she gets going, it's hard to stop her."
On how the matchup sets up with Rockhurst
"Yeah, I mean, obviously, they're getting hot. We have to stay in and continue to focus on what we do well and continue to put pressure on the defense offensively. We can control what we can control, so if we come out and play our game, we can be successful, but we have to play the game and find out."
On the historic nature of the 42nd win and what that means to her
"It's not about me. It's about the kids, about the players before them that really built this foundation of just doing it the right way. Every year as we've recruited, we've progressively gotten better. You've been able to see that statistically, and now you can see it with the record. This program continues to move in the right direction. Now it's just time for us to continue breaking records."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
2026 GLVC Tournament Semifinal
vs. Rockhurst Hawks (32-18)
Friday, May 8th - 10:00 AM - Field #1
Eastside Centre - East Peoria, IL
Watch Live ($) (GLVCSN)
Live Stats (Sidearm Sports)
