NORTHPORT, Ala. – Stillman College made history Friday, becoming the first college softball team of any level to host a game at the newly built River Run Park. However, Blue Mountain Christian started fast in the opener and ended the second game with another big frame to take both ends of the 2026 softball season-opening doubleheader from the Tigers, 8-1 and 6-1.
The visiting Toppers plated four runs in the first at bat of the day, three unearned, and never trailed in the first contest.
Makynli Kidd sliced a RBI single in the home fourth of the late game and pulled the Tigers to within a run, 2-1, but the host squad could get no closer.
Lead-off hitter
Alex Erwin carried the hot Stillman stick as she accounted for a third of the team's hit. Erwin went 2 for 3 in each contest with a walk and a stolen base.
Avary Lumpkin was the only other multi-hit Tiger as she doubled and singled in the first game.
Six other Stillman hitters –
Anna Sullivan, Kidd, Jaleah Orr,
Katelyn Lankford,
Lily Stone and
Makyleigh Hollinger – each singled. Orr and Hollinger drove in one teammate apiece with their hits. Kaily Boyd scored as a pinch runner.
In the circle,
Faith Byram logged the final 1.1 innings of the first contest where she gave up only one hit and struck out on Topper.
Karli Crocker went the distance in the second game and allowed eight hits, only two earned runs and fanned three.
With the two wins, Blue Mountain takes the first two meeting of the weekend series. The Tigers and Toppers split the four-game series last Feb. 7 and 8 in Blue Mountain, Miss.
Blue Mountain outhit Stillman, 19-12, on the afternoon and recorded three multi-run at bats.
Game 1
With two outs, Blue Mountain produced a double and a single in the next two hitters for the game's opening score. A home error and a wild pitch rounded out the top of the first for a 4-0 lead. Blue Mountain added a single tally in the second on a wild pitch for a 5-0 score.
Trailing 8-0 going to the home sixth, Sullivan lined a single to lead off for Stillman. Pinch hitter Orr doubled down the left field line to bring Sullivan home. The Tigers could not mount any more runs as an Erwin seventh-inning walk was the long runner the rest of the way.
Game 2
With no score after two innings, a home error and then a Topper triple two hitters later broke the deadlock in the top of the third. Blue Mountain doubled its advantage with a RBI double in the fourth to make it 2-0.
With two outs and Lankford and Stone on base via singles, Hollinger laced a RBI hit to left center to plate what would be the lone home run of the late game. Erwin singled with one out in the fifth as the final Tiger hit.
The Toppers posted their second 4-run at bat in the top of the seventh and then retired the home team in order to end the day.
Next: Blue Mountain (2-0) and Stillman (0-2) wrap up their four-game series with a Saturday afternoon, Feb. 7, doubleheader at River Run Park. Game times at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Admission is $10.
