Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
6-5
Grambling State
5-7
Softball Starts Mardi Gras Mambo 2-0, Defeating Grambling State and Houston Christian
February 28, 2025 | Softball
YOUNGSVILLE, La. — Army West Point Softball (7-5) finished its first day at the Mardi Gras Mambo 2-0, with wins over the Grambling State Tigers (5-7) and Houston Christian Huskies (4-10).
The first game against the Tigers was a slugfest, with the two teams combining for 22 runs and 25 hits, with the Black Knights being the benefactors outscoring Grambling State 14-8. In the second game, the Black Knights fell to an 0-2 deficit but then scored five unanswered runs to take a 5-2 win over the Huskies.
Ashton White led the Black Knights in hitting with five hits, four of them coming against Grambling State. Two of her five hits were extra-base hits, with White hitting a home run and a double.
Katelyn Flanders led the Black Knights in strikeouts in the first game on the day with nine strikeouts in six and two-third innings pitched.
Amanda Eaglin pitched a full seven innings in the game against Houston Christian, only allowing two runs and earning seven strikeouts.
GAME 1
The Black Knights struck first in the game against Grambling State. Taylor Brown reached after being hit by a pitch, then Ashton White reached third base on a fielder's choice and an error by the shortstop, bringing in Taylor White for the first run of the game.
Army followed the first inning with a five-run second inning, quickly growing a 6-0 lead.
The big inning started with a double from Sienna Tepley and a bunt from Annie Christiana, then Taylor Brown got back on base to load the bases. Tayten Moore earned an RBI single, bringing in both Tepley and Christiana. Then Ashton White hit a three-run home run to give the Black Knights the large lead.
Grambling State earned its first run in the bottom of the second inning, but Army continued to grow its lead.
The Black Knights' bats stayed hot in the top of the third inning, with Annie Christiana hitting a single to right center field. Then Taylor Brown got her first hit of the day with a home run, making it an 8-1 game in the top of the third inning.
Army did more damage in the top of the fourth inning, starting with a double from Ashton White. Caitlyn Newburn singled to advance White, then Leila Hurst reached on fielder's choice to help White earn a run. Maaika Dones came in to pinch run for Hurst, then stole second and third to reach scoring position. Sienna Tepley singled for her second hit of the day, making it a 10-1 game.
The Black Knights were held scoreless in the fifth with Grambling State returning the favor scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut Army's lead. Both were held scoreless in the sixth inning, making it a 10-8 game heading into the final inning.
In the seventh inning, the Black Knights scored another four runs to build a six-run lead. Six Black Knights hit singles to get on base. Sienna Tepley, Taylor Brown, Sophie Smith and Ashton White each earned runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Black Knights shut the door on the Tigers with two putouts and a final strikeout from Katelyn Flanders to secure the first win of the day.
GAME 2
In a much lower-scoring second game, the Black Knights were held scoreless in the top of the first inning.
Houston Christian struck first with two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Despite trailing two runs early, Amanda Eaglin earned three strikeouts in the first inning of play.
Army would be held scoreless up until the fourth inning, where the Black Knights scored three runs to take a 3-2 lead.
Caitlyn Newburn started the fourth inning with a double, then Leila Hurst singled to advance Newburn to third. Sienna Tepley would then hit an RBI single to send Newburn home and advance Hurst into scoring position. Tayten Moore had a sacrifice hit to send Hurst home and advance Tepley to scoring position, and then Emma Murchison singled to right field to send Tepley home.
The Black Knights would not score again until the top of the seventh inning when they scored two runs.
Taylor Brown had her second hit of the game singling to right center. Then Annie Christiana singled to right field to advance Brown into scoring position on second. Then Ashton White hit a base-clearing double to bring in Brown and Christiana, making it a 5-2 game in Army's favor.
As for the Black Knights defense, after the end of the first inning, Army did not allow another HCU run for the rest of the game. Thirteen putouts later and four strikeouts from Amanda Eaglin helped Army clinch the win and a 2-0 day to open the Mardi Gras Mambo.
NEXT UP
The Black Knights head into their second day of competition at the Mardi Gras Mambo on Saturday, matching up with two teams from the Southland Conference, Stephen F. Austin and Southeastern Louisiana.
The games in Youngsville are scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET starts.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Izzo, Breanna (4-1)
L: Erin Gibbs (2-3)
Batting:
2B: White, Ashton 1 ; Tepley, Sienna 1
HR: Brown, Taylor 1 ; White, Ashton 1
RBI: Brown, Taylor 2 ; Moore, Tayten 2 ; White, Ashton 4 ; Newburn, Caitlyn 2 ; Hurst, Leila 1 ; Tepley, Sienna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Taylor 4 ; Moore, Tayten 2 ; White, Ashton 3 ; Dones, Maaika 1 ; Tepley, Sienna 2 ; Christiana, Annie 2
SB: Hurst, Leila 1 ; Dones, Maaika 2 ; Tepley, Sienna 1 ; Christiana, Annie 1
CS: Tepley, Sienna 1
HBP: Brown, Taylor 2 ; Christiana, Annie 1
Batting:
RBI: Brooklynn Poullard 1 ; Cadashia Collins 2 ; Kamryn Broussard 2 ; Tavia Leadon 1 ; Jada Carhee 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brooklynn Poullard 1 ; Cadashia Collins 1 ; Kamryn Broussard 1 ; Tavia Leadon 1 ; Katelynn Walls 1 ; Jada Carhee 2 ; Lexi Hope 1
SB: Jada Carhee 1
CS: Katelynn Walls 1
HBP: Cadashia Collins 1 ; Tavia Leadon 1 ; Jada Carhee 1 ; Lexi Hope 1
