The Spring Hill College softball team scored three runs in the first inning and then rode a strong pitching performance from
Bethany Ahrens to defeat the top-seeded Albany State Golden Rams, 3-1, and advance to the 2026 SIAC Softball Championship Winners' Bracket Final.
Ahrens pitched six strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits, while striking out four.
Leighanna Turk pitched a clean seventh inning to pick up the save.
Janci Aube was 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot with a solo home run,
Destiny Pierce stayed hot with her third two-hit game in her last four outings, and Villar added to her team-high RBI total with her 52nd of the year.
In contrast to how the first game started out, Spring Hill wasted no time getting on the board as Aube took the third pitch of the game over the center field fence to give the Badgers the 1-0 lead.
Oscha Carter then beat out an infield single, and
Jesslyn Gordon ripped a single to right field, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Albany State was anticipating the double steal from Spring Hill, and the Badgers' mostly fed that assumption with Gordon taking off for second base on the first pitch of the next at bat. The Golden Rams shortstop stepped in to cut off the throw and try to get Carter at third, but her throw sailed wide and allowed Carter to score, making it 2-0. Gordon advanced to third on the error as well, which allowed her to come in to score on Villar's groundout and the Badgers held a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Spring Hill had a runner on second with one out in the second inning and another two runners on base in the third, but the runners would be stranded as the Badgers continued to lead 3-0. Ahrens was keeping Albany State on their heels in the batter's box, but she got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third inning with a pair of one-out walks. Ahrens did force an infield fly pop-up to get the second out, but after a single loaded the bases, she hit the next batter and forced in Albany State's first run of the game. Ahrens would regroup and get the third out, stranding the bases loaded and maintaining Spring Hill's 3-1 lead.
From there, the pitchers were dueling and baserunners were few and far between. The Badgers did have runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh, looking for an insurance run, but Carter's hard line drive was snagged by the pitcher and it was 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Curry came in to pitch for Ahrens and got two quick outs. Albany State stayed alive with a single, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Curry got the final hitter to foul out to secure the 3-1 win.
The Badgers advance to the SIAC Softball Championship Winners' Bracket Final where they'll play Fort Valley State for a chance to play in the SIAC Championship Game. Fort Valley State, the four-seed out of the SIAC East Division, upset SIAC West Division winner Tuskegee in the first round and then posted a 3-1 win over Miles. The Winners' Bracket Final will be played at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. Â
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