East Peoria, IL - Mother Nature wreaked havoc on Eastside Centre on Friday morning. Just as the 15th-ranked McKendree University Softball team was about to face off against the Rockhurst Hawks in the GLVC Tournament Semifinal, the skies opened up. Alas, play marched on. The Bearcats (43-12) were able to get to the scoreboard early and despite the conditions, led 5-2 in the fifth before a rain delay. The Hawks (32-19) battled to a 2-2 tie the rest of the way, but the 5-0 gap that McKendree'd created turned out to be plenty, as the Bearcats took a 7-2 win. The victory moves McKendree into its first GLVC Softball Tournament Championship since 2021.
Sami Huck and the Bearcat defense held Rockhurst down to a 1-2-3 top of the first and immediately went to work at the plate. Huck drew a leadoff walk, Lauren Harris singled, and Paisley Twait singled, all to load the bases with just one out on the board. Harris and Huck would both score after Laynee Tapp reached on a fielder's choice with an error. Right after that, Ali Grenzebach took a 2-0 pitch up the middle for an RBI single, scoring Tapp, and making it 3-0 after just one inning.
As evident by the turnaround in the earlier UIS matchup, quick turnarounds are certainly possible at the tournament, and Rockhurst nearly pulled one. A walk, single, and stolen base put runners on second and third with still nobody out. Yet after that, Huck needed just nine pitches to retire the next three Hawks batters: strikeout, popout, strikeout, and keep the lead.
Wanting to capitalize on momentum from that snuffed scoring threat, the Bearcats got a Molly Bartz walk, Addie Clark sacrifice bunt, and Sami Huck reaching on an error to put runners on the corners. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Harris doubled to left center scoring Bartz, and holding Huck at third to still have two runners in scoring position. Jasmine Myers would then draw a walk, and on that fourth ball, a wild pitch that scored Huck and made it 5-0 McKendree.
Rockhurst would break through with an RBI single in the third and an RBI single in the fifth, but before the Bearcats could come to the plate in the bottom half, enter the rain, which was pouring down as hard as it had all weekend.
Alas, McKendree would push it back to a four-run lead thanks to Ali Grenzebach singling and Twait jumping on an error to score. Huck would answer with a 1-2-3 inning and two more strikeouts, giving the Bearcats one more opportunity to add insurance.
McKendree nearly unfurled the game in the sixth, with walks to Harris and Myers putting two on with two outs. The Bearcats would tack on one more run and set the final score with a Twait RBI single.
In the top of the seventh, Huck started the inning with a strikeout, as her 10 K's surpassed 1,000 for her collegiate career. A pair of pop outs would follow, giving McKendree the five-run win and advancing them to Saturday's Championship Game and a matchup with Rockhurst.
The GLVC Tournament Championship remains on board with the standard double elimination format. Coming from the winners' bracket half of the tournament, McKendree would need to lose twice tomorrow in order for Rockhurst to win the trophy, while the Bearcats need just one victory to take the crown.
SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH HEATHER TARTER
On playing through a sustained rain as opposed to the pockets of rain on Thursday
"Our mindset is that we're here to play, and whatever conditions we're going to get put into, we have to play through them, and know that the other team has to play through them too. There's absolutely no excuse."
On how the early 3-0 lead solidified trust in the team's tolerating of the poor conditions
"Our goal every game is to score first, so when that happens, that definitely alleviates some stress on our defense and allows Sami to settle in and be able to throw her game with some confidence."
On not being satisfied with up to a 5-0 lead, especially knowing Rockhurst had scored twice
"Getting that five-run lead is huge. We want to put up runs as early and as often as we can, and can't be comfortable with what we're doing in the postseason because anyone's capable of coming right back and putting up some runs. We kept our composure and kept chipping away."
On what kind of confidence she had in Sami Huck throughout the outing
"When Sami's in the circle, we're pretty confident. The defense has done a fantastic job of being calm, being steady, and being consistent. When she's in the circle and we have a lead, we're confident we're able to hold that."
On how you balance the excitement that is warranted for this Championship whilst also prioritizing strategy
"Obviously, we're excited to be playing in the Championship game, but we're never settled. We have a really good group, really even-keeled. They know they have to go out there and just take it one pitch at a time."
On how important it is to preach rest going into a game of this caliber
"We're definitely resting. Being done early in the day was huge. We were able to go get lunch. Now they're taking naps. We'll go get some dinner later. Coach T (Director of Athletic Performance Tyler Aulbur) is going to run us through some stretching and things, just getting us ready to go for tomorrow."
On what this run this group has made means to her, regardless of Saturday's result
"It just shows our team is consistently improving. Our program has been able to make huge strides. We're getting tons of communication from our incoming players that they're really excited about being a part of this program, so hopefully this continues on, and hopefully you'll see more McKendree Bearcats win more championships here in the future."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
2026 GLVC Softball Tournament Championship
vs. #5 Rockhurst Hawks (33-19)
Saturday, May 9th - 10:00 AM*
at Eastside Centre - East Peoria, IL (Field 1)
Watch Live ($) (GLVCSN)
Live Stats (Sidearm Sports)
Tickets (GLVC)
*12:30PM if necessary game would follow if Rockhurst wins the 10AM game.
