BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (February 12, 2026) – Coming off a 4-1 start last weekend at Troy, the University of North Alabama softball team will play another in-state invitational on Friday and Saturday at Samford in Birmingham.
The Lions will join Lindenwood, Belmont and Samford for a two-day tournament. UNA was originally scheduled for five games at Samford, but due to potential weather, the tournament has been condensed to four games over two days.
UNA will play Lindenwood and Belmont on Friday, then rematch Belmont and end with Samford on Saturday. UNA and Lindenwood kick things off on Friday at 10 a.m. Both games against Belmont on Friday and Saturday will take place at 3 p.m. The tournament ends against Samford on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
None of the games will be streamed, but live stats will be available for all four games. Fans can also follow along through
Facebook,
X (Twitter) and
Instagram.
TOURNAMENT INFO
2026 Samford Tournament
Feb. 13-14 (Friday-Saturday)
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Venue: Samford Softball Field
Game 1 vs. Lindenwood: Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. —
LIVE STATS
Game 2 vs. Belmont: Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. —
LIVE STATS
Game 3 vs. Belmont: Feb. 14 at 3 p.m. —
LIVE STATS
Game 4 at Samford: Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. —
LIVE STATS
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: North Alabama is off to a hot 4-1 start with two wins over Middle Tennessee, a 12-4 run-rule victory over defending Southern Conference regular season champion Chattanooga and a similar 16-4 victory over Southern. The only loss came to Troy last weekend, who hosted all five games of the Trojan Classic.
COZY WITH STRONG STARTS: In 13 seasons under head coach
Ashley Cozart, the Lions have a 12-1 record in season openers. UNA has won eight straight season openers since 2019 — all eight seasons of the NCAA Division I era. The Lions outscored their opponents by a 39-21 margin over the five games. In the circle, UNA posted a 3.46 ERA while the offense gave opposing pitchers fits with a combined 6.33 ERA.
EK STEALS THE SHOW: The most thrilling game of the weekend was perhaps UNA's 4-2 win on Sunday against MTSU. Limited to just two hits in the first five frames, UNA trailed 2-0 heading into the sixth. However, the bats came alive and a three-run home run from junior
Emma Kate Wright ultimately led to a 4-2 victory. Senior Kate Simon pitched 6.2 innings and earned the win, while fellow senior
Alivia Wilken came in and struck out the final batter with the bases loaded for the save.
LETHAL TRIO: The 2-3-4 hitters in the UNA lineup are all batting above .400 through five games, led by infielder
Briley Dover with eight hits and a .471 batting average. Junior
Bayleigh Rouse has held it down in the three-spot, batting .412 with seven hits. Senior
Laura Leigh Wheeler is a formidable clean-up hitter and has a .438 batting average with seven hits, including two homers and a double. The trio combined for 16 runs and 14 RBI in the first weekend of the season.
CIRCLE THIS GROUP: UNA ranks among the top five teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 3.46 team ERA. Wilken finished with a 1-1 record and a save over her 9.1 innings, posting a 2.25 ERA. She finished with 13 strikeouts against MTSU in the season-opener — just two shy of her Division I school record. Simon ate the most innings last weekend with 14.0, posting a respectable 3.50 ERA and six strikeouts. Senior transfer
Rylee Tittle and sophomore
Kaylee Snyder also made two appearances and combined for 7.0 innings. Snyder picked up a win against Southern with 4.0 innings.
EARLY LEADERS: UNA is currently atop the ASUN and 47th in the nation with 34 RBI — tied with Stetson. Nine Lions had multiple RBI over the weekend, including Wheeler with six, Rouse with five, Wright with four and Dover with three. Others include sophomore transfer
Holly Merritt (3), true freshman
Livy Huter (3), senior
Gyvan Hammons (3), junior transfer
Hailey Minchew (2) and true freshman
Maggie Olsen (2).
TWIN MAGIC: There are currently 17 teams in Division I softball this season with a set of sisters on the roster. However, North Alabama is the only school among those teams with two sets of sisters — both of whom are twins. Seniors Emily and
Katie Simon enter their second seasons with UNA, while
Haley Westhoven and
Lindsey Westhoven are true freshmen. Lindsey is a catcher, while the other three are pitchers.
MORE TWIN MAGIC: Not only is UNA the only team with two sets of twins in Division I softball this season, but the Lions also have a head coach with a twin. Head coach
Ashley Cozart has a twin sister named Candice.
SCOUTING LINDENWOOD: Lindenwood is off to a solid 3-1 start with wins over Nicholls, Murray State and Northern Kentucky — all decided by six or more runs. The only loss came 6-5 in a road bout against Alabama State at the 2026 Stinger Classic. The Lions finished 24-25 last season with a 14-12 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Through one weekend in the new campaign, senior infielder Tori Hatton has been the impact hitter with 11 RBI — totaling at least two in all four games last week. She currently ranks ninth in the NCAA for RBI. Erin Brown is the head coach in her fifth season.
SCOUTING BELMONT: The Bruins are coming off a major win last weekend, defeating nationally-ranked Georgia on the road with a 2-1 victory this past Sunday in Athens. This capped off a 3-2 weekend for Belmont, which included a split with the No. 15 Bulldogs, a two-game sweep of Missouri State and a loss to Fordham. Belmont is coming off a remarkable season with a 41-16 record, a 20-7 record in conference play and a 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championship. Belmont had one win over Jackson State in the NCAA Regional hosted by Alabama, but fell to Virginia Tech. Sophomore Rylee Spindler is off to a tremendous start with eight hits, a .533 batting average, a triple and a homer. Laura Matthews is in her sixth season as head coach.
SCOUTING SAMFORD: The Bulldogs have a 2-4 record with six games already played. The two wins came in the season opener against UConn and the most recent game on Tuesday against Alabama State. Samford also had an admirable performance against No. 7 Florida State in Tallahassee, falling 2-0. The pitcher of that game for Samford was Brandy Phillips, limiting FSU to just two runs on six hits over 6.0 innings. Junior Katie Campbell leads the team with six hits and a .400 average. Last season, Samford went 33-23 overall and 12-7 in the Southern Conference, falling to Mercer for a third-place finish in the tournament. Megan Curry is in her second season as head coach.
SERIES HISTORY: The Lions have an 14-3 record against this week's competition, including an 11-2 record against Samford, a 3-0 record against Lindenwood and an 0-1 record in the only matchup with Belmont. The Lions hosted Samford twice last season in the UNA Tournament, splitting the two matchups. UNA swept Lindenwood in two games last season at the Chattanooga Challenge — both wins by mercy rule. UNA's only matchup against Belmont came in 2022 — a 5-0 loss in Nashville.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
