DURANT, Oklahoma – The Ouachita softball team wrapped up the 2025 season with a 7-6 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State, securing the 2-1 series victory over the Savage Storm.
Ouachita started off strong in the final game of the season.
Marli Huddleston got the scoring started in the top of the first inning with an RBI single that scored
Emily Reed to put the Tigers on top early. Southeastern responded with a run in the bottom of the first to tie things back up 1-1.
The Tigers kept the offense going in the second inning, tacking on two runs in the top half of the frame.
Karley Burrow drove in
Jessalyn Ahrens with a sacrifice fly. The second run also came on a sacrifice fly, this time off the bat of
Baylee King to score
Jordyn Merrett and put Ouachita up 3-1.
After both teams posted scoreless halves of the third inning, Ouachita recorded its third sacrifice fly of the day, this one from
Katelyn Provence to score Merrett and give the Tigers a three-run advantage in the fourth. The Savage Storm woke up in the fifth inning and plated five runs to take a 6-4 lead heading into the final two frames.
Bella Roseberry led off the sixth inning with a single, and Provence was hit by the pitch in the next at bat to put two Tigers on the bases. Then, King came through with a two-RBI double to tie the game at 6-6. One batter later,
Marli Huddleston earned her second RBI on the day with a double down the left field line, scoring King and giving the Tigers the lead back.
The Tiger defense held Southeastern to just one hit in the bottom of the sixth inning and sat the Storm down in order in the seventh to secure the 7-6 victory and clinch the series in the final game of the season.
Huddleston and Merrett tied for the team lead in hits with two each. King was the leader in RBI with three, followed by Huddleston with two.
Tuesday Melton earned the win in the final game of her collegiate career after throwing 1.1 scoreless innings in relief: giving up just one hit and striking out two.
Kodee Batchelor pitched the final frame for Ouachita and forced SE down in order with one strikeout to earn her 10
th save of the season. Batchelor's 10 saves tie her for the lead in saves for all of Division II. The Poyen, Arkansas native shattered the previous record for saves in a single season, which was four set by Abbi Frakes in 2014. Batchelor now has 11 saves in her career, which breaks the career saves record, which was seven and held by Marrisa Butler from 2016-2019.
Speaking of the record books,
Emily Reed is now tied for fourth all-time in single season home runs with 11 this year, the most since three Tigers recorded 13 in 2010.
Freshman pitcher
Catie Amador is now tied for fifth in single season wins with 13 victories in the circle.
Remington Adams' 13 doubles this season ties the junior for fifth all-time in a single season.
The Tigers posted a six-win improvement over last season's total, posting 21 wins for the most since 2019, and the most GAC wins since 2022 despite having one of the toughest strengths of schedule in the conference. Ouachita finished the season two spots above where the GAC Preseason Poll predicted.
In terms of stats, the team batting average jumped more than 20 points compared to 2024, the Tigers scored over 50 more runs than last year, and the team ERA dropped by more than one-and-a-half runs. In total, the Tigers made improvements in nearly every statistical category. The future stays bright for Tiger softball.
The Tigers will graduate seven seniors from this year's squad:
Jessalyn Ahrens,
Mackenzie Amaya,
Kyndall Fomby-Bell,
Maggi Huddleston,
Marli Huddleston,
Tuesday Melton, and Katelynn Provence. All seven of whom have played big roles for the Tigers over the course of their careers at Ouachita.
