FLORENCE, Ala. (March 18, 2025) – For the third game in a row, the University of North Alabama softball team run-ruled an opponent in six innings, as the Lions earned a 10-2 victory over Tennessee Tech on Wednesday at Hilda B. Anderson Softball Stadium.

UNA (22-6) finished with 13 hits for the second straight game while totaling double-digit hits for the fifth consecutive game. Six of those runs came in the sixth inning, turning a tight 4-2 game into a 10-2 walk-off.

Nine Lions recorded a hit, including five players with two-hit days.

On top of the solid hitting, senior left-hander Alivia Wilken pitched a quality start in the circle with just two runs allowed — one earned — on just three hits. The 2024 first team all-conference selection has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of her 14 appearances this season. She owns an 8-1 record and 2.11 ERA.

Tennessee Tech (7-19) scored two runs in the first frame, but Wilken shut down the Golden Eagles after that with just two hits allowed in the final five innings. UNA responded with a run in the first off the bat of Laura Leigh Wheeler.

UNA took the lead in the third, tying the game with a double from mainstay Hailey Jones. Wheeler brought in the ultimate go-ahead run in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly.

The floodgates opened in the fifth and sixth innings, including a solo shot by Jones to make it 4-2. The Lions added six more in the final frame, starting with an RBI single by Caroline Cartron in a pinch-hit situation.

The Lions added two more runs on a pair of double steals, then Wheeler singled up the middle to score Jones again to make it 8-2. This brought up Bayleigh Rouse, who hit a two-run shot to invoke the mercy rule.
 

Pitchers of Record
W – Alivia Wilken (8-1)
L – Lainey Fitzgerald (3-5)
S – None
 

COMING UP NEXT

UNA will host Central Arkansas on Friday and Saturday, March 21-22 in Florence.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.