CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Saint Leo softball team was crowned the NCAA Division II Softball National Champions after defeating McKendree by a 5-2 margin in game two of the best-of-three series on Wednesday evening. The Lions earned its first national championship in program history following a historic season.
The Green & Gold jumped out ot an early 1-0 lead in the first as junior
Sydney Cline drove in a run with a single to right field with freshman
Abigail Hynes scoring from second. The Bearcats tied the game in the fourth with a bunt squeeze, 1-1. The Lions offense clicked in the fifth as it registered a pair of runs with a sacrifice-fly from Hynes and an RBI-triple from Cline to extend the Saint Leo lead to 3-1. In the bottom of the fifth, McKendree trimmed the Lions deficit to 3-2 after a hit by pitch. However, junior pitcher
Alex Wright and the defense held the Bearcat offense in check to secure the win and put Saint Leo softball into the history books.
In the circle, senior
Tierney Hocquard started and pitched 4.0 innings. She tallied five strikeouts and surrendered two runs (one earned) on five hits. Additionally, Hocquard closes her stellar career while posting a 25-1 record in her final year. In relief, Wright pitched 3.0 innings and notched three strikeouts and only allowed one hit to collect the save.
The Lions had five members of the team earn World Series All-Tournament Team recognition as
Tierney Hocquard,
Hailey Beuerlein,
Abigail Hynes,
Alexis Barber, and Izzy Laroche tabbed the honor. Additionally, Barber highlighted the selections as she was named the Most Outstanding Player.
Saint Leo finishes the 2026 season with an overall record of of 54-3-1. A season that saw the Green & Gold break the program record for most wins and longest winning streak (38 games).
