Stillman College Softball Makes History At NAIA Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, AL — No. 5 seed Stillman College softball made history on Monday by becoming the first historical black college and university (HBCU) to win an opening-round game in the NAIA Tournament.

Click here to subscribe to our free Tuscaloosa Daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

The 7-3 win over No. 4 seed Indiana University Southeast also represented the first NAIA tournament win in Stillman softball's program history. With a record of 36-13, the Tigers also tied its single-season record for wins that was set last year.

"The girls were excited," head coach Joel Penfield said. "When we finally got here yesterday, some of the nerves went away. I had a feeling we might start a little slow this morning, and we did, but it's great to be here. Like we keep preaching, we're not here to just play two games, and obviously, we're not now."

The Tigers will now face No. 1 seed Jessup University (36-9) of Rocklin, California at 1 p.m. Tuesday at William Carey University's Joseph & Nancy Fail Field.

"We're Stillman. It doesn't matter who they are, we just have to go play our game," Penfield said. "That's the way we've always been. It's going to be a fight. We're looking forward to it."

Tiger starter and former Brookwood High standout Lexi McCray gave up an earned run in the second inning and an earned run in the third inning for a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers' first run of the game finally came in the top of the fourth, when Anniston Jones drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Karli Davidson sac fly to left.

Katelyn Lankford then singled up the middle to start the fifth and was run for by Katelynn Madison. Lauren Haskins then beat out a one-out bunt single, before a wild throw advanced both runners into scoring position to set up a sac squeeze by Jones to tie the game, 2-2.

After an offensive back and forth, McCray (16-5) exited the game in position for the win with only one earned run among three total allowed.

McCray gave up five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings, while Jasmine Wade pitched the final 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit for her third save.

Stillman plated three more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by Haskins and an RBI single by Jones.

Haskins and Jones finished the game with two RBIs each, while Haskins and Bubel each had two hits.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com