SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb softball team (32-25) saw its historic run in the 2026 Big South Softball Championships come to an end on Friday night, with the Runnin' Bulldogs suffering a semifinal loss to Winthrop (30-22)
GAME ONE - No. 5 Gardner-Webb 4, No. 3 Radford 1
Starting off in the elimination bracket, the Runnin' Bulldogs got a complete game, complete team effort to take down Radford and move to the winner take all semifinal later in the day
As the Dawgs had done all tournament, GWU was in front first. This time, it was off the bat of senior catcher
Taylor Dreher who sent in the game's first run with an RBI groundout in the second inning
That lead held until the late innings, when the Runnin' Bulldogs found some huge insurance runs. First in the fifth, it was
Reese Collier continuing an excellent individual tournament with a two-RBI single to center. After five, GWU held a 3-0 lead
Freshman
LY Forte broke the game open with a wild play in the sixth. Forte stole second, then after one fielding error and one throwing error in the Radford outfield, scored all the way from first. Through six, the Dawgs led 4-0
One run on a fielder's choice meanwhile was all Radford could muster against senior right-hander
Alli Stidham. Stidham dusted off a 7.0 inning complete game, allowing just one earned run and striking out three. She did so on just 92 pitches
With the win, GWU advanced to a winner take all semifinal game against No. 1 seed Winthrop immediately after
GAME TWO - No. 1 Winthrop 9, No. 5 Gardner-Webb 2
Once again, Gardner-Webb got off to a great start. With a berth in the title game up for grabs, Collier and Stidham hit back to back doubles in the first. Stidham brought Collier home for an RBI, putting the Runnin' Bulldogs in front 1-0
Stidham was helped out by her defense in a big way early. To end the second inning, senior shortstop
Annicka McLaughlin made one of the plays of the day. Diving back to her left, McLaughlin hauled in a catch at short, catching a wicked deflection off the glove of Stidham to retire the side.
Winthrop would battle back however, leading 4-1 by the end of the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run bottom of the first inning.
Gardner-Webb didn't quit however, with Stidham stepping up for one of the most impressive swings of the weekend. Stidham crushed a home run over the USC Upstate left field in the top of the sixth, cutting the Winthrop lead in half, down to 4-2
With a five-run sixth inning however, the top seeded Eagles pulled away to lead 9-2, a score that held up as final
SEASON IN REVIEW
The Runnin' Bulldogs finish the 2026 season with 32 wins, the fourth-most in the program's NCAA Division I history. A semifinal appearance at the Big South Championship was the program's furthest postseason run since 2012, which included a tournament win for the first time since 2018
