BIRMINGHAM, AL. - The
Lindenwood Softball team (4-2, 0-0 OVC) split the first two games of the Samford University Tournament by defeating North Alabama 13-8 and dropping their second game of the day to Samford 8-0. Senior infielder
Tori Hatton collected five more RBI to her season total while a total of six Lions had two hits on the day.
Game 1: Lindenwood 13, North Alabama 8
Lindenwood jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings of play behind RBI singles from
Anna Sanders,
Teryn Brown, and
Madisen Noll. However, North Alabama evened the score at five in the top of the fourth following a grand slam in the top of the third and an RBI single in the fourth. The Lions would take the lead back for good in the bottom of the fourth inning behind a
Tori Hatton SAC fly that brought in Brown and
Jolie McMinn's first home run of the season to make it a 7-5 game after four innings of play. UNA cut the deficit to one in the top of the fifth to make it a 6-5 game, but Lindenwood put some distance between the two squads by putting up six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning behind Hatton's second grand slam of the season to make it a 13-6 game. After North Alabama made it a 13-8 game,
Avery Wapp entered in the top of the seventh inning and retired all three batters that she faced to give the Lions their fourth win of the 2026 season.
Lindenwood picked up 12 hits in the victory as
Kylee Crowder,
Anna Sanders, and
Teryn Brown all had two hits to lead Lindenwood offensively. In the circle,
Samantha Roulanaitis grabbed her first win of the season pitching one inning and allowing no runs while facing six batters.
Game 2: Lindenwood 0, Samford 8
The Lions collected three hits in the game coming off the bats of
Madisen Noll,
Tori Hatton, and
Emily Geary. Samford took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run and added on to their lead in the bottom of the third on another two-run home run followed by a solo home run to go up 5-0. The Bulldogs scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to defeat the Lions by a score of 8-0.
Lindenwood will be back in action for their final two games of the tournament beginning tomorrow morning at 10 AM against Belmont before playing Samford for the second time at 12:30 p.m.
