Softball Falls in Narrow Losses to Western Kentucky, Iowa

Friday, February 13

Macon, Ga.

10 a.m.

Army West Point

2-3

Western Kentucky

4-1

Army

Western Kentucky

Softball Falls in Narrow Losses to Western Kentucky, Iowa

February 13, 2026 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MACON, Ga. — Army West Point softball (2-5) saw two narrow losses in the opening day of the MUSB Invitational, first falling to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (5-1) 1-2, then to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in walk-off fashion (4-2), 6-7.

In game one, Annie Christiana led the Black Knights with one hit and one RBI, an RBI double in the third inning. Caitlyn Newburn also added a double, with Sienna Tepley adding the lone run while drawing two walks. Amanda Eaglin pitched the full game for Army, earning four strikeouts while allowing five hits and two runs, none earned.

The second game was more offense-heavy, with Taylor Brown and Ashton White each adding three hits for Army, with both having one home run in the game. The pair also had all of Army's RBIs, with Brown finishing with three and White adding one. Annie Christiana, Sienna Tepley, Sam Rodgers and Maisi Sigler each added hits for the Black Knights.

Katelyn Flanders received the start, finishing with two strikeouts and allowing five hits and two earned runs. Breanna Izzo entered in the sixth, throwing for two innings, and ended up allowing five runs, all earned, and five hits, going on to receive her first loss of the season.

GAME 1

In the first inning, Army's top of the order, Annie Christiana, Taylor Brown and Ashton White went three and out. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the inning, Amanda Eaglin allowed a single, then one stolen base and an error from second basemen Sabrina Rebolledo later, the Hilltoppers took a 1-0 lead.

Army went three and out for the second straight inning in the top of the second, with Caitlyn Newburn and Breanna Coonfare grounding out, bookending the inning while Hannah Laub struck out.

After a flyout to open the bottom of the inning, Western Kentucky reached base again, this time on a throwing error from Taylor Brown. The runner advanced to third on a groundout, but Amanda Eaglin closed the door with a strikeout to send the game to the third inning.

The Black Knights got on the board for the first time in the third inning. After two quick outs, Sienna Tepley became the first of the Black Knights to reach, drawing a walk. Then, Annie Christiana capitalized, hitting a double to left center to send Tepley home to tie the game at 1-1. Christiana stole third base for her first steal of the season, but Brown struck out to close the bottom of the third.

In the bottom of the third, the Hilltoppers went three and out, with the Black Knights forcing a ground out and a fly out, then ended with Hannah Laub catching the ball in foul territory.

The Black Knights earned their second hit of the game in the fourth, with Caitlyn Newburn doubling to right center, but she was left stranded on the base paths.

Errors continued to haunt the Black Knights in the fourth inning, this time Ashton White committing the error to allow the first Hilltopper batter to reach scoring position. The runner advanced to third on a groundout, then a single to center field allowed Western Kentucky to take a 2-1 lead over Army.

Amanda Eaglin bounced back with her third strikeout of the game, then another groundout forced the Hilltoppers to leave two on base.

Sienna Tepley was the only Black Knight to reach base in the top of the fifth inning, drawing her second walk of the day, but was left stranded. The Hilltoppers earned another two hits, both singles, in the bottom of the fifth, but Emma Murchison and Taylor Brown caught a player stealing, and two fly outs sent the game into the sixth inning.

Both teams went three and out in the sixth to give Army three more outs to tie or take back the lead. Then, at the top of the seventh, the Black Knights went three and out again, featuring two strikeouts, giving Army a 1-2 loss to Western Kentucky.

GAME 2

Against the Hawkeyes, the Black Knights' bats got hot early. Both Taylor Brown and Ashton White reached on singles. Ashton White was also able to steal for second base to put both in scoring position, but Caitlyn Newburn grounded into a double play to keep the Black Knights off the board.

Apart from allowing one hit in the bottom of the first, Katelyn Flanders and the Black Knights' defense held strong, allowing no runs in the Inning with Flanders recording her first strikeout.

Sam Rodgers added to the hitting for Army, getting a single to third base. She was ultimately left on base, sending it to the bottom of the inning.

Iowa took the lead to start the inning, knocking a lead-off home run to center field to give the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead. Iowa would hit another single, then added another to the base paths after Ashton White errored, but two great plays in the outfield from Breanna Coonfare stopped Iowa in its tracks.

Army's offense took control at the top of the third inning, scoring four runs off of three hits and one error to take a 4-1 lead over the Hawkeyes.

The inning started when Sienna Tepley reached on an error by the Iowa second baseman. Annie Christiana then added a single to reach. Taylor Brown then added her second hit of the game, a home run to right field for three RBIs. Ashton White kept the hitting going right behind her, adding a home run of her own to center field. Caitlyn Newburn walked, but was left on base to end the top of the third inning.

Katelyn Flanders and the Black Knight defense played clean in the bottom of the third inning, forcing Iowa to go three and out, with Flanders adding her second strikeout.

In the fourth inning, the Black Knights would tack on another run on the board, helping grow their lead to 5-1. Sienna Tepley would reach on an error for the second time in the game. With two outs, Taylor Brown would then single to left field, allowing Tepley to advance to third. Taylor Brown would then aim to steal second, but was caught stealing, but not before Sienna Tepley reached home, adding Army's fifth run to the board.

Iowa would not go away quietly, hitting two singles at the bottom of the fourth inning. The Hawkeyes would go on to hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-2 game, but would not score any more in the fourth.

The fifth inning went by in a flash, with both teams going three and out in the inning, with Flanders closing the inning with her third strikeout of the day.

Breanna Coonfare would lead off in the sixth inning, reaching first base on yet another error by the Iowa defense. Two pinch hitters then came in for Army, with Hannah Laub striking out and Samantha Sims lining out to give two outs in the inning. Sienna Tepley then singled to center field to reach foe the third time, moving Coonfare to scoring position. But Christiana grounded out to the catcher, leaving the two stranded.

Breanna Izzo then came in as relief for Flanders in the bottom of the sixth. The Hawkeyes would hit a lead-off double, then hit back-to-back groundouts that allowed the Hawkeyes to score to make it a 5-3 game. The inning would end on another ground, sending the game to the final frame.

Taylor Brown would lead off the seventh inning, grounding out to Iowa's shortstop. Ashton White and Maisi Sigler would then both add singles, giving Army its ninth and tenth hits of the game. With Breanna Coonfare up to bat, the sophomore put the ball into play, then the shortstop made another fielding error, allowing Ashton White to run home to give Army a 6-3 lead. The frame would end with Army leaving two on.

With only three outs to work with, Iowa used clutch pinch-hitting on Breanna Izzo. The Hawkeyes would hit three straight singles to load the bases. Then, on a 0-1 count with no outs, Iowa's McKenzie Leitgen hit a deep ball over the center field wall, earning the walk-off grand slam, giving Izzo her first loss of the season and the Black Knights their fifth loss overall.

ON DECK

The Black Knights will play on the second day of the MUSB Invitational, with the team set for another matchup with the Hawkeyes and a game against tournament host, Mercer.

First pitch against the Hawkeyes is set for 10 a.m. ET, while the Black Knights will take on Mercer starting at 3 p.m. ET.

FOLLOW ALONG

For complete coverage of Army West Point softball, follow the Black Knights on X and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Softball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.