OXFORD, AL - The Gardner-Webb softball team split Friday action at the Jax State Tournament, falling early to Northwestern State before a come-from-behind win and a walk-off home run against DePaul

Game One - Northwestern State 4, Gardner-Webb 2
In the early game of the day, the Runnin' Bulldogs trailed 3-0 in the first inning and were unable to come all the way back, suffering a 4-2 loss to Northwestern State

The Demons scored three in the first, one on a single, one on a double, and another on a Gardner-Webb throwing error behind the plate. GWU responded with a run via an error from Northwestern State in the top of the second, trailing 3-1

Down 4-1 by the fourth, the Runnin' Bulldogs added a second run, again off the bat of senior catcher Taylor Dreher, with a sac fly to right field. Through four innings, GWU trailed 4-2

Freshman right-hander Glenna McLamb entered the circle in the third inning with Gardner-Webb trailing and completed 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits and no runs. 

The Runnin' Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on some good pitching down the stretch, as Northwestern State held on, 4-2.

Game Two - Gardner-Webb 10, DePaul 9
After a normal first game, the second was anything but. Gardner-Webb got behind both early and late, blew a late lead, and yet still found a way to beat DePaul by a 10-9 final

After DePaul took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Gardner-Webb scored four in the bottom of the second. Freshman right fielder LY Forte drove in the first run on a fielders choice to tie the game. After a fielding error at third allowed GWU to take a 2-1 lead and extend the inning, the middle of the lineup broke the game open. Junior left fielder Lily Deaton scored Forte on an infield single, and senior shortstop Annicka McLaughlin brought sophomore center fielder Lauren Spainhower home with ease on a ball hit up the middle for a 4-1 lead

After sophomore second baseman Reese Collier homered to left in the third, and Forte smashed her first collegiate home run in the fifth, GWU was up 8-5 and seemed to be cruising. DePaul got a long ball of its own in the top of the sixth to out of nowhere, to tie game at 8-8. The Blue Demons added an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh to stun Gardner-Webb, 9-8

But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, tying run at second, up stepped sophomore third baseman Caitlin Colley. With Spainhower already having already reached on a leadoff single, Colley hooked a ball fair down the left field line, spilling the Gardner-Webb dugout on to the field after a game-winning, game-ending, two-out, two-run home run. With all that, the Runnin' Bulldogs stunned DePaul to win 10-9, with Colley the hero

IN THE STATS
In the win over DePaul, nine different players recorded at least one hit, with senior first baseman Maggie Knight finishing 3-for-3, Colley finishing 2-for-5 with the game-winning home run, and Collier extended her hitting streak to 11 games to open 2026

UP NEXT
GWU returns to action on Saturday, facing Northwestern State and hosts Jacksonville State