Feb. 9—ST. CLOUD — The Bemidji State softball team played four games against conference foes at the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament in St. Cloud over the weekend.
While all four games at the Husky Dome were in nonconference play, the Beavers struggled ot get over the hump.
BSU lost 5-4 against Concordia-St. Paul in eight innings and 12-4 against St. Cloud State in five innings on Friday. On Saturday, Southwest Minnesota State beat BSU 7-1 before SCSU took down Bemidji State again by a score of 9-1 in six innings.
Calleigh Richards had a standout weekend at the plate, going 4-for-12 with a home run, a double and five RBIs. Alayna DeGraef went 5-for-11 with five singles.
Top-ranked Texas softball dropped its first game of the season with an 8-5 loss to No. 10 Nebraska Saturday at the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio.
The Longhorns (2-1), who beat No. 25 Washington earlier Saturday, will close out the UTSA Invitational with a doubleheader Sunday beginning at 12:35 p.m. vs. Washington. Following that game, Texas will end the weekend with a 3:05 p.m. matchup vs. UTSA. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
In a rematch of the Longhorns’ 15-10 season-opening win Friday, Nebraska jumped out to a 4-0 in the first inning against Texas freshman Hannah Wells, who gave up seven runs on seven hits in two innings of work. The Longhorns rallied with three runs in the bottom of the third after a two-run homer by San Antonio native Leighann Goode but couldn’t overcome their early deficit.
Goode went 2-for-3 at the plate, and catcher Reese Atwood went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Sophomore pitcher Cambria Salmon impressed in relief of sophomore Brenlee Gonzales, who made her Longhorn debut with one inning of work. Salmon retired all 12 batters faced in the final four innings.
Texas Longhorns catcher Reese Atwood (14) steps up to bat during game three of the NCAA Women’s College World Series against Texas Tech at Devon Park on Friday, June 6, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Aaron E. Martinez / American Statesman)
Earlier on Saturday, Atwood tallied a team-high four RBIs to lift Texas to an 11-6 win over Washington. Atwood recorded her second home run of the season and the 57th of her career in the bottom of the first with a two-run shot to put the Longhorns in front 2-0. Wells, seeing action at the plate and in the circle during the UTSA Invitational, hit her first career homer in the fourth to break a 2-2 tie and give the Longhorns a 5-2 lead.
Junior pitcher Teagan Kavan (1-0) earned her first win of the season after entering a game tied at 5-5 in the top of the fifth with two outs and a runner on first. She threw the final 2 ⅓ innings, limiting the Huskies to an unearned run and one hit while dialing up four strikeouts.
Washington took a 6-5 lead in the sixth on a passed ball, but that lead didn’t last for long. Senior right fielder Ashton Maloney drove in Goode to even the score at 6-6, and junior shortstop Vivi Martinez bashed an RBI single to the left-field wall to score Jaycie Nichols and give Texas the lead for good. Junior catcher Katie Stewart, starting behind the plate in place of Atwood, capped the scoring with a two-run homer.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The Angelo State Rambelles played their season home openers on Friday, Feb 6.
Day one of Angelo State’s annual George & Ola McCorkle Challenge was a tale of two halves. The Rambelles’ opening game versus Missouri Western was a scoreless tie through six full innings, until the top of the seventh inning when the Griffons’ Ashlyn Finarty cranked a go-ahead two-run home run to centerfield, proving to be the game winning run(s) scored.
In game two, the Rambelles flipped the script. Angelo State scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning en route to an early 8-1 lead. ASU added an additional run in the bottom of the sixth inning, which proved to be the game’s final play. Greysen Collins’ RBI single to left field drove in another run to increase the Rambelles’ lead to eight, thus ending the game via run rule.
The Rambelles begin day two of the George & Ola McCorkle Challenge on Saturday, Feb 7. Angelo State faces Missouri Western first at 1:15 p.m. CST, followed by Ouachita Baptist at 3:30 p.m. CST.
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Faces off the field gives a close look into the thoughts and lives of high school athletes in the Austin area. Today we feature Rouse catcher Mariah Collins, who must wear a bright-colored ribbon for every game.
All about Mariah: Baking bread and adjusting to pitchers and umpires
Tell something about you that most people don't know.
I can write with both my right and left hands, and I can write cursive better with my left hand even though I am right-handed.
Outside of sports, what's something that you're really good at?
I am really good at baking. I love baking different homemade treats like different bread loaves or different cookies. Any family event, I make sure to bake something good.
If you could go on vacation to wherever you want to go, where would it be?
I would visit Bora Bora, which is an island in French Polynesia. I would want to go there because everything about the place seems so tropical, and the water there is so beautiful.
If you could attend any concert, who would you see?
I would see Drake because he is one of my favorite artists, and it has always been my dream to see him perform live.
What will you do after you graduate?
I plan to play softball at a university and also major in something in the health field.
What has been your favorite softball memory at Rouse?
My favorite memory has to be when I hit a home run during the regional final game against Liberty Hill, helping my team go to the state semis. Seeing everyone cheer me on as I crossed home plate and my family and friends in the stands as well will be something I'll cherish forever.
Do you have any game-day rituals?
I have many rituals. The first one is I must have a ribbon in my hair, and it has to be bright-colored. Then I have to put my cleats on from right to left, and finally, right before the game starts, me and my teammate Kennedy Coleman have to do our own prayer by ourselves in the back of the dugout.
What is the hardest part of being a catcher?
The hardest part of being a catcher is adjusting to the different pitchers and different umpires. There are many things you have to do while being a catcher, such as adjusting to different pitchers’ pitches because no pitcher pitches the same. And with the umpires, not all umpires are going to give you the call you want, and so you are going to have to notice that and adjust the way you're framing.
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