Softball struggles against strong competition on road

The Troy softball team, which has already achieved double-digit wins and double-digit run-rule wins, was invited to the Jane B. Moore Invitational and faced Auburn, USC Upstate and No. 11 Virginia Tech. The Trojans lost all four games over the weekend, but bounced back with a 6-2 win over Georgia Tech on the road Tuesday night.

Following a rough weekend, Troy continued a long road trip with a midweek against the Yellow Jackets. The Trojans used a six-run third inning to take down Georgia Tech and earn the team’s second Power Four win under head coach Eric Newell.

“We had a good win tonight against a quality opponent in Georgia Tech,” Newell said. “It was a disappointing weekend, but to come back and play well on Tuesday night against Georgia Tech in Atlanta is a good night for us.”

Makaley Boswell logged a two-hit game, and Kiley Huffman crushed a two-RBI double as part of the big inning. 

The pitching staff all chipped in, with Ella Cunningham, Mya Holt and Abby Lovell combining to hold Georgia Tech to two runs.

Game one at the tournament in Auburn was against a strong Auburn Tigers team that took a 4-0 lead in the first en route to an 8-7 win. McKinnon Howard turned a walk into a run off a wild pitch, but the Tigers struck back with two runs of their own in the second inning. Presley Ivey, Howard and Boswell all draw walks to load the bases, and a Cunningham single brought home a run to make it 6-2.

With the bases still loaded and two outs on the board, Dailynn Motes slammed a two-RBI single to cut Auburn’s lead and make the score 6-5. Those were her seventh and eighth RBIs in her last five games. 

Auburn would add a run in the fourth to put them up two runs, but Troy was steadily applying pressure. A hit-by-pitch and a Megan Loftis single put runners on first and second, but Auburn stifled the flames. The Tigers brought home another to make it 8-5, but two Trojans walked to allow one more chance to come away with a win. 

Motes obliterated a ball, but it just missed homer status and moved the runners up. Ivey collected a single to make it 8-7, but Auburn sealed it with a fly-out.“All in all, I was really proud of the way we battled and brought out one of our best bats to the plate with a chance to take a lead.” Newell said. Game two featured Troy against USC Upstate, and the Trojans fell 13-5.  Upstate would strike with two runs off of an error in the first, but Troy would explode offensively in the second with a Sophia Jenkins three-run homer and a Huffman RBI single to go up 5-2. 

However, Upstate loaded the bases in the fourth and scored a total of five runs. Shortly after that, the Trojans got run-ruled in the fifth when Upstate brought in four more runs to end it.

Game three, and second game in the doubleheader, was a rematch against Auburn, where Troy fell 10-4. Esmee Ames started off for the pitching against the Tigers and  pitched a scoreless first. Auburn would score five in the second however, putting some pressure on the Trojan offense. 

Jenkins would rope a softball out of the park to become the first Trojan to hit home runs in consecutive games since Taylor McKinney did in April 2025. Auburn brought in six more runs in the third inning to make it 10-1 Tigers. 

Kalee Rochinski destroyed a home run of her own, and the Trojans made the score 10-4.

Emma Banks kept Auburn at bay out of the bullpen, and Amity White skied a double into center, but Troy couldn’t capitalize.

 Banks would hold back more scores from the enemy, but Troy couldn’t score any more runs. The final score was 10-4 Auburn.

The last game of the invitational was a matchup against a top-25 Virginia Tech team, a team that run-ruled the Trojans 8-0 for their first shutout of the season. Tech would strike early with a wild pitch mishap and a two-run home run in the first; another run in the third and a two-run shot to make it 6-0 in the fourth. 

Boswell got a hit for Troy with a double, and Cunningham would walk to first, but nothing came out of it. The Hokies brought in two more to put the game in run-rule territory. Pinch runner Jasmine Lawrence was thrown out at home to finish the game after Ivey came up with a single.

After a midweek contest against Georgia Tech, the Trojans continue their road trip with a weekend series at Florida Gulf Coast. The first game is at noon on Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida, and all three games will be streamed on ESPN+.