WKU Softball defeated Delaware 6-1 on May 2, closing out the regular season and securing the No. 2 seed in the Conference USA tournament.
The win gives the Hilltoppers a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament, reflecting their strong performance throughout the season. WKU finished with a record of 37-12 overall and 19-8 in Conference USA play.
In Saturday’s game, Jenna Blanton singled early and later scored, helping WKU take an initial lead. A defensive error allowed Delaware to score its only run in the first inning. The Hilltoppers extended their lead with timely hits from Lauren Satterly and Annie White, who contributed a sacrifice fly for two runs after a pitching change by Delaware. In the seventh inning, Blanton reached base again before White hit her twelfth home run of the season to add two more runs.
Erica Houge pitched all seven innings for WKU, allowing just one unearned run and recording four strikeouts. She earned her twenty-first win of the year, moving to fifth all-time in single-season wins for WKU.
“I think all weekend we hit the ball well and just haven’t had timely hitting,” said WKU Softball head coach, Amy Tudor. “We left a lot of runners stranded. Today, I thought we did a good job offensively scoring those runs. Obviously, Annie had a big home run in the seventh inning, which was two huge RBI there. Jenna Blanton was a force on the bases; she was 4-for-4, and that’s a game changer for us. Erica Houge held it down in the circle.”
Annie White led WKU with three RBI during this game and has now reached fifty RBI on the season—becoming only the fourth player in program history to reach that mark within one year.
Looking ahead, WKU will begin play at 1:30 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, May 7 at Conference USA’s tournament after receiving its first-round bye.
