MOBILE, Ala. (February 19, 2026) – This weekend, the University of North Alabama softball team continues its in-state caravan to open the 2026 season, as the next stop on the tour is down south in Mobile for the South Alabama Invitational this weekend.
UNA currently has a 6-3 record following successful stops at the Trojan Classic in Troy and the Samford Tournament in Birmingham. This will be the third and final in-state round robin before the Lions open the home portion of the schedule.
The weekend begins with a single game on Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Loyola Chicago. The Lions and Ramblers will run it back Saturday at 9 a.m. UNA will then play a non-conference matchup with fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member West Georgia at 11:30 a.m. The Lions and Wolves are in opposite divisions within the ASUN and will not play any countable conference games.
On Sunday, UNA will battle UT Martin at 11:15 a.m. The weekend ends with a game against host school South Alabama at 1:30 p.m. The final game with USA will be streamed on ESPN+. Tickets for all three days can be found
here.
Fans can also follow along through live stats on RoarLions.com and via all UNA softball social media platforms —
Facebook,
X (Twitter) and
Instagram.
TOURNAMENT INFO
2026 South Alabama Invitational
Feb. 20-22 (Friday-Sunday)
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Venue: Jaguar Field
Tickets:
Click Here
Game Notes:
Click Here
Game 1 vs. Loyola Chicago: Feb. 20 at 12:30 p.m.
Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Loyola Chicago: Feb. 21 at 9:00 a.m.
Live Stats
Game 3 vs. West Georgia: Feb. 21 at 11:30 a.m.
Live Stats
Game 4 vs. UT Martin: Feb. 22 at 11:15 a.m.
Live Stats
Game 5 at South Alabama: Feb. 22 at 1:30 p.m.
Live Stats |
ESPN+
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: All four teams finished 2-2 at the Samford Tournament last weekend, as UNA defeated Samford, split with Belmont and lost to Lindenwood. This tournament was a whos-who of competition, as Belmont was ranked No. 12 in the D1 Softball mid-major poll. Lindenwood is off to one of the best starts in program history, while Samford was a top-three finisher in the SoCon last season.
PROVING HER MERRITT: On Tuesday, the ASUN announced UNA first baseman
Holly Merritt as the Player of the Week. She went 8-for-15 to finish .533 last weekend in Birmingham with two home runs and two doubles. One of her homers was a grand slam off Lindenwood, while the other came off Belmont's First Team All-American ace Maya Johnson. Merritt is a sophomore transfer from Miami Ohio.
TOP THREE HITTING TEAMS: UNA is among the top hitting teams in the ASUN currently with a .329 batting average behind Lipscomb and Stetson. However, UNA ranks atop the conference in runs per game with 7.6 — scoring 69 times in nine contests. This has helped UNA to the second-most wins in the ASUN so far behind defending champion North Florida.
FIVE STAR HITTERS: UNA has five starters hitting above .300 over the first two weekends, including a .464 average from Merritt after her outstanding weekend at Samford. Junior
Briley Dover is on an 11-game hitting streak dating back to last season and is currently hitting .455. Senior clean-up hitter
Laura Leigh Wheeler is batting .433 with a .733 slugging percentage. Junior three-hole hitter
Bayleigh Rouse is batting .323, while senior catcher
Natalie Shaw is off to a tremendous start with a .357 average over eight games.
SHAW TIME: In the Belmont win, Shaw hit her first collegiate homer, including both JUCO and UNA. She is also among the top 10 players in the nation in walks with 10 already this season. She is currently batting 5-for-14 over her eight games.
CIRCLE THIS GROUP: UNA's pitching efforts have come from four players so far, including seniors
Katie Simon and
Alivia Wilken with roughly 20 innings apiece. Simon leads the way with a 3-0 record and a 3.62 ERA, while Wilken — the ASUN Co-Preseason Pitcher of the Year along with Katie's twin
Emily Simon —is 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA and two saves. Senior
Rylee Tittle and sophomore
Kaylee Snyder have also collected 8.0 innings of work apiece.
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. The Simon twins enter their second seasons with UNA, while
Haley Westhoven and
Lindsey Westhoven are true freshmen. Lindsey is a catcher, while Haley joins the Simon twins as a pitcher.
SCOUTING LOYOLA: Loyola Chicago has a 5-5 record this season following tournaments in California and Florida. Both tournaments were polar opposite in results, as the Ramblers lost all five games at San Diego State against the likes of Kentucky, Minnesota, Miami Ohio and SDSU. It all turned around the next week with five straight wins over Southern Miss, Alabama State (twice), Bethune-Cookman and LIU. Three hitters are batting above .300 led by junior infielder Nat Lesnicki. The Ramblers are led by head coach Alicia Abbott.
SCOUTING WEST GEORGIA: In just their second season of Division I, the West Georgia Wolves have a 4-7 record to start the season. UWG hosted a tournament on opening weekend with two wins over Bellarmine and losses to Drexel, Georgia State and Austin Peay. The Wolves won last time out on Wednesday against UAB. Junior Jenna Samuel is the leading hitter with a .457 average on 16 hits. She has also pitched 10.1 innings this season with two starts. Kristy Burton is in her fourth season as head coach at UWG.
SCOUTING UT MARTIN: The Skyhawks are off to a solid 7-2 start this season with seven straight wins, including a 4-0 record at home with wins over Saint Louis, Valpo and two over Mississippi Valley State. The only losses for UTM were in the openers against Indiana State and Stetson, in which it won the rematches. Senior catcher Avary Makarewicz is the leader of this charge with 14 hits and 11 RBI. Starting pitchers Natalie Kreuziger and Sami Scholtz are both under a 3.00 ERA. UTM alum Chelsea Farmer is in her third season as head coach.
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA: The Jags are 7-5 this season with notable wins over EKU, Missouri (in 11 innings), Western Michigan and UAB. South Alabama lost twice this week with losses at LSU and at home against McNeese State. USA is led by sophomore Presley Lively with a .364 batting average and 12 hits. Junior Ryley Harrison of Fairhope, Ala. has pitched in nine of the 12 games and owns a stellar 1.96 ERA over 39.1 innings. Becky Clark has been the head coach at USA since the start of the program in the summer of 2005.
SERIES HISTORY: UNA will play Loyola and South Alabama for the first time this weekend. However, both West Georgia and UT Martin are classic rivals for UNA dating back to the Division II era. The Lions lead the series with UWG with a dominant record of 74-28 over 102 meetings. UTM holds a slight edge over the Lions with a 22-16 record.
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