The Dordt University softball team extended their season with a 7-2 win over Texas A&M University - Texarkana in an elmination game at the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round - Ashland Bracket played this afternoon at Laurel Park in Ashland, Ore.
The Defenders push their program-record win total to 42-13 and will play 6th-ranked and defending champion Southern Oregon later this afternoon. Dordt lost to the host Raiders 3-1 on Monday.Â
Rylee Yager (21-9) was once again masterful in the circle for the Defenders as the freshman limited the Eagles to six hits and two runs in earning her third win at the Ashland Bracket. Yager picked up her 21st win of the season, one of 22 pitchers in the NAIA with 20+ wins this season. Yager, who set the single-season record for wins Tuesday night against University of Saint Francis (breaking the old record of 19 held by Abby Kraemer -2023 and Dawn Van Kley - 2001), walked two and struck out one.
The Defenders outhit Texas A&M University - Texarkana 9-6, led by
Aubrey DeShaw and
Chloe Kreuz with two hits each.
Annabelle Hensley hit a solo home run in the third inning and
Lauren Steenstra delivered a two-run single in the sixth to extend Dordt's lead to 7-2. Seven different players had at least one hit for the Defenders against the Eagles pitchers.
Scoreless after the first inning, Dordt manufactured a run in the top of the second for a 1-0 lead.
Sumaya Edwards was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a passed ball and to third after an
Ashtyn Grissom sacrifice bunt. DeShaw then stepped to the plate and hit an 0-2 pitch back up the middle for a hit that drove in Edwards.
The Eagles plated both their runs in the bottom of the second on three consecutive singles at the start of the inning, followed by a sacrifice fly by No.9 hitter Brooke Usrey.
The Defenders responded with a run in the top of the third inning on a two-out, solo home run by
Annabelle Hensley on a 2-2 pitch, her 11th of the season.
Dordt broke the game open and chased Eagles starter Rylee Glenn with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Edwards and DeShaw yielded the Defenders third run and Tera Lynn Price tripled to right centerfield to drive in DeShaw for a 4-2 lead.
Chloe Kreuz followed with a double, scoring Price to push the lead to 5-2.
The Defenders closed out their scoring with a two-run single by
Lauren Steenstra in the sixth, scoring both Kreuz and Yager.
Kylie Malone paced the Eagles with two hits and an RBI; Madison Ruiz and Grace Cantu both scored a run and had one hit each. Glenn (15-5), one of four Eagles pitchers, allowed six hits and five runs in 3.2 innings. Texas A&M University - Texarkana ends the season with a 38-16 record.
Notes:Â
- this was the seventh game in the five team, Ashland Bracket, and the first game on day three
- today's game was the first match-up ever played between Dordt and the Texas A&M University - Texarkana
- this is the second appearance for the Defenders at the championship (2001)
- Dordt is one of 19 teams in the NAIA with 40+ wins this season
- Yager has hit safely in all four games in the Ashland Bracket and has a 9-game hit streak
- Kreuz extended her hit streak to six games
- Price has hit safely in five consecutive games
- DeShaw has five hits in her last eight at-bats
- Dordt is the only team from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) left in the 2026 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round
- both Midland and Morningside were eliminated from their respective bracketsÂ
- Southern Oregon, the Defenders next opponent, is the No.1 seed in the bracket and has won three of the last five national titles
