FLORENCE, Ala. (April 18, 2026) – The ball was flying out of the park at a lightning pace for the University of North Alabama softball team on Saturday, as the Lions hit seven home runs over two games in a doubleheader sweep of Austin Peay at Hilda B. Anderson Softball Stadium in Florence.
The Lions are now 30-12 this season and jump back into first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference Gold Division standings with a 12-5 record. Today clinched UNA's fifth-consecutive season with 30 or more wins.
This also clinches the second of two series wins over Austin Peay this season, as the Govs drop to 26-20 overall and 8-9 in ASUN play. The Lions took two of three from the Govs last month in Clarksville and have an opportunity for the sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m.
In game one Saturday, UNA won a 5-4 thriller behind five shutout innings from senior ace Alivia Wilken. Wilken pitched all the way into the seventh and recorded two outs, as the Lions led 5-4. Coming in for the save opportunity was senior Emily Simon, who made her fourth appearance of the year after missing 40 games with injury dating back to last season.
Simon stranded the tying run on second base with the final out, forcing Austin Peay's top hitter Brie Howard into a lineout at short caught by junior Briley Dover. This marked her first save since Feb. 8 of last season at Alabama State.
In game two, UNA scored six runs in the bottom of the first and hit a season-high five homers en route to a 7-5 win. Simon got the win in this game, teaming up with her sister Katie Simon to pitch all seven innings. Emily pitched the final five and allowed just one run for her first win in over a year. Prior to Saturday, Simon's last win came on April 12, 2025 at Austin Peay.
UNA hit four of the five homers in game two in the first inning. This marked the ninth game this season with multiple homers in one inning, the third time with back-to-back homers and the first time with three in a row.
Today marked the first time since 2022 that UNA hit five or more homers in a game. The last time came on May 11, 2022 against Tarleton State with seven in the first game of the National Invitational Softball Championship.
Sophomore Holly Merritt homered twice in game two, while senior Laura Leight Wheeler hit one in each game. Dover went back-to-back with Wheeler in the fifth inning of the opener, while Wheeler started a four homer first inning in the second game that included Merritt and juniors Bayleigh Rouse and Emma Kate Wright.
Merritt and Wright were joined by Jenna Madison with two-hit days. Eight different Lions recorded a hit in the doubleheader, including three over two games from Madison and Merritt.
Game 1: North Alabama 5, Austin Peay 4
UNA took a 2-0 lead behind a two-RBI single from senior catcher Natalie Shaw in her first at-bat of the day. Shaw ripped one down the left field line that initially looked like a homer, but it was kept in the park by Austin Peay's left fielder and rolled off her glove to score two runs.
The lead was extended to 4-0 in the fifth on the back-to-back homers from Dover and Wheeler — both of which cleared the left field wall.
While the hitters were compiling those runs, Wilken was having a strong outing in the circle. She gave up an infield single to the leadoff hitter and a leadoff double in the second, then proceeded to retire 13 straight.
The Govs made it interesting with a three-run homer by Sammie Shelander in the sixth to make it 4-3. This came after an illegal pitch was called against Wilken, negating what would have been a flyout to left. On the redo, Shelander made her pay. However, she escaped after that with two more outs.
In the bottom of the sixth, Madison scored what proved to be the winning run with a single to bring home senior Katie Davis. Davis pinch ran for Merritt, who reached on a leadoff single. Austin Peay escaped with two runners on.
Down to their final life, the Govs got one more in the seventh with an RBI single, but that brought Simon in for the save, which she secured.
Pitchers of Record
W – Alivia Wilken (12-4)
L – Alanah Jones (15-9)
S – Emily Simon (1)
Game 2: North Alabama 7, Austin Peay 5
The Govs struck first in game two, hoping to even the series. Two unearned runs crossed on an RBI triple from Kiley Hinton, which came with two outs. Katie Simon was the pitcher and got a strikeout in the frame and stranded two on base to keep the deficit short.
All nine Lions batted in the bottom of the first, combining for the team cycle with an infield single from leadoff hitter Gyvan Hammons, a double in the gap from Madison, a triple down the right field line from Shaw and the four homers from Wheeler, Rouse, Merritt and Wright.
Wheeler's bomb was golfed over left field, while Rouse and Merritt squared theirs up to go over the centerfield wall. Wright had perhaps the longest of the four, hitting the top of the centerfield grandstands.
The Govs did not back down, scoring two more in the second and one in the third to make it 6-5. All three came from two homers, including one from Howard to break the single-season Austin Peay home run record at 19.
Merritt hit her second homer of the day and her 14th of the season to make it 7-5. She is five away from UNA's single season school record, which is held by former Division II National Player of the Year Brooklynn Clark from the 2016 national championship season and Harley Stokes at the Division I level in 2022.
Emily Simon took over for her twin sister in the third, giving up the one run in her first inning of work. After that, she was nearly flawless with just one walk and three singles allowed the rest of the way. Two of those three singles came in the seventh to put the tying run on base, but Simon got a foul out and groundout to end it. The foul out came in the deep left corner of the outfield, as defensive sub Kylei Russell made a stellar grab with hardly any room to breathe.
The final out came just before heavy rain hit the stadium.
Pitchers of Record
W – Emily Simon (1-0)
L – Cameron Grayson (9-7)
S – None
COMING UP NEXT
UNA will look for the sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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