SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - No. 4 IU Southeast softball defeated No. 5 Brescia 13-7 in game one of the 2026 River States Conference Softball Tournament.
Josie Lemmons led off the bottom of the first with a triple, then scored after a groundout by McKenzie Walters. Raycee Stallings followed Walters' groundout RBI with a triple down the left field line. Stallings scored two at-bats later after a double by Grace Stapleton. Kaitlyn Leister and Lillian Mackey recorded back-to-back doubles to left to put the Grenadiers up 4-0.
The Grenadiers added three more runs in the second inning. Ava Allen led off the inning with a walk, then advanced to second after a base hit by Lemmons, then scored after Walters doubled to center. One at-bat later, Stallings put the Grenadiers up 7-0 with a two-run single to center.
Brescia got back in the game with one run in the fourth, then three more in the fifth. IU Southeast scored one run in the bottom of the fifth after a sacrifice fly by Lillian Mackey. The Bearcats made the game very close in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on five hits to cut the Grenadiers lead to 8-7.
IU Southeast slammed the door on the Bearcats' comeback bid with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Lemmons, Walters, and Stallings hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Sofia Guy made it 11-7 after a bases-clearing three-run double. Shortly after, Leister and Mackey hit back-to-back doubles to make it 13-7, which would be the final score.
The Grenadiers offense finished the game with sixteen hits. Ten of the Grenadiers' sixteen hits were for extra bases, led by Leister with three doubles.
Coach Courtney Holm's team will be back in action Friday for game three of the 2026 River States Conference Tournament against No. 1 Oakland City at noon.
