CHICKASHA, Okla. – The incredible season for the Stillman College softball team has come to an end after the Tigers dropped a 7-6 decision to the #3 Seed Freed-Hardeman University Lions in an elimination game on the second day of the 2025 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round.
Stillman didn't trail until the end, and started scoring in the top of the second with an RBI single to left field to knock in
Alex Erwin and
Karli Davidson.
The Tigers added two more runs in the third to take a 4-0 lead after Davidson drew a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to bring
Madison Bubel. Erwin followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in
Carolyn Carter.
The Lions responded with a monster bottom of the third, during which FHU scored four runs to tie the matchup 4-4.
Avary Lumpkin helped Stillman reclaim the lead in the fourth with an RBI-double to right field as
Lauren Haskins scored. Haskins stole her 50th base of the season to help set up the run.
In the sixth, Haskins cemented herself in the Stillman College record books. The dynamic senior led the inning with a single, which enabled her to steal second and later third base to move to 52 stolen bases on the season to set the team's single-season stolen bases record. She broke her own record of 51 set in the 2023 season. It caps her Stillman career stolen bases record at 148, and gives her 167 total for her collegiate career.
The base running by Haskins put her in a position to score on a Carter double to center field to move the score to 6-4. Haskins hit 4-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and two RBI, pushing her senior season batting average to .513 with 81 hits, 64 runs and 46 RBI.
Unfortunately, FHU scored a run to close the gap to 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth, and then completed the comeback in the seventh with two runs to win the game 7-6 to avoid elimination. A bases-loaded wild pitch was the clincher.
Jasmine Wade pitched 3.1 innings with a strikeout and surrendering three earned runs.
Faith Byram (10-7) suffered the loss in relief, posting three innings of work and scattered five his and a walk.
Stillman College softball concludes the season with a 33-13 record overall and a 15-0 record against HBCU Athletic Conference competition. The Tigers captured the regular season championship in the HBCUAC and finished 3-0 in the HBCUAC Softball Tournament to earn a postseason berth in the NAIA Softball National Championship.
The season also marks the conclusion of three consecutive 30-win seasons for the program for a combined 106 wins in three seasons, which included Stillman setting a program record 37 wins in the 2024 season.
