Columbia Softball Falls to Pikeville in AAC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pikeville (KY) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
|
Columbia (SC) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The No. 10 Columbia College Softball team fell 5-0 to No. 5 Univ. of Pikeville (KY) on day two of the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday night at the Brickyard Ball Fields Complex in Kingsport, Tenn.
The loss eliminated the Koalas from the tournament and ends their season with a 23-25 record. The game was scheduled to be played at 11 am but was delayed throuhgout the day Tuesday due to rain and unplayable field conditions until finally getting underway at 7:00 pm.
The low-scoring pitcher's duel was scoreless through three innings as junior starter Maddie Vaughn shut down the Lady Bears. UPike (28-14), however, would break through in the 4th on an RBI single but Vaughn would then escape the bases-loaded jam with no more damage.
The Koalas then put two runners on base with one out in the 6th inning, but could not push any runs across as they trailed by just one at 1-0 heading to the final inning. Unfortunately, Vaughn (9-9) began to tire in the 7th as UPike got to her to score 4 runs off an RBI single, two-run triple, and RBI groundout to take a 5-0 lead. Vaughn finished throwing 6 and 1/3 innings allowing 5 runs on 10 hits while walking three and striking out one to finish with 75 strikeouts on the season. Senior reliever Ally Boyd finished out the 7th striking out one.
Sophomore 3B Elaina Seymour (.254 avg.) led the Koalas with two hits for the second straight game while ending the year with five hits in her final 9 at-bats (.555 avg.). Fellow infielder, junior 2B Joni Littlejohn, senior catcher Jenna Holder, and junior OF Takeirra Bakken (.307) also recorded hits in the loss. Junior shortstop Ashlynn Wolff finished the season leading the Koalas in average (.364), hits (55), home runs (3), runs (44) and stolen bases (13).
Sophomore Madison Cheek was also named to the AAC Champions of Character team while 12 Koalas were honored with All-Academic Honors. They include: T. Bakken, Karmen Christie, Brooke Farrell, J. Holder, Reagan Kelly, Hailie Lebiedz, Amanda Lohrey, J. Littlejohn, Malaurie Martin, E. Seymour, Kailee Smith, and M. Vaughn.