The pitching staff was crucial on Friday in UMHB’s ASC Tournament wins, including Katherine Neal (pictured above), who earned the win in the day’s first game against Howard Payne (Photo courtesy of ETBU Athletics)
MARSHALL, Texas — The day before her team took the field for its ASC Tournament opener, UMHB head softball coach Melissa Mojica was asked about her pitching staff. Six different pitchers recorded at least five starts in the regular season, and four threw 45.0 innings or more, neither stat being especially common when it comes to a softball pitching staff.
Some of it had come out of necessity. Some had been the result of Mojica simply looking for a new spark in the circle during the regular season. Either way, it gave her plenty of options in Marshall, where her team would look to win its first ASC Tournament game since 2023.
She had already selected her starters for the weekend, and expressed trust in their ability to get the job done in the circle. Ideally, she wouldn’t need to go to a relief pitcher at all. But as she also added, there was an advantage for The Cru in knowing if they did turn to the bullpen, it would be another experienced strike-thrower taking the ball.
“It is nice to be like, “Hey, go warm up in the bullpen,’ even if that pitcher is going to be able to give just three or six outs,” Mojica said Wednesday. “That’ll be huge for us if we need [that starter] to pitch the next day.”
There was no better time for that dynamic to show up than on Friday, as UMHB faced elimination not once, but twice, on ETBU’s Taylor Field. And in both contests, the pitching pulled through for seven solid innings, carrying The Cru to a pair of memorable wins and a spot in Saturday’s ASC Championship.
It began with Katherine Neal in the day’s opener against Howard Payne, an elimination game played less than 20 hours after UMHB dropped its first game of the tournament to Hardin-Simmons, 5-0. Making her collegiate postseason debut an hour from her hometown of Tyler, Texas, the freshman tossed a gem, working 5.1 innings with just one earned run and seven strikeouts, powering through the HPU lineup in a must-win situation.
“When we played Howard Payne [in the regular season], we knew that Kat was probably the most successful pitcher against them,” Mojica said. “And we knew that they struggled with that low ball. She came in and did her job. We knew if we kept them at one run, we could win the ballgame.”
She exited the game in line for her sixth win of 2026, and handed the ball off to Chloe Booth with runners on first and second and UMHB holding a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning. Booth, a junior transfer also appearing in her first career ASC Tournament game, induced a popout on a 3-2 pitch for the inning’s second out, then struck out Ashley Blaylock on three pitches, closing the door on HPU’s scoring threat.
Booth came back with a three-up, three-down seventh, picking up a crucial save with 1.2 flawless innings as UMHB extended its season by another game.
In the nightcap against Hardin-Simmons, postponed by roughly 75 minutes due to lightning in the area, Mojica again used multiple arms with great success. Against the ASC’s leader in team batting average, Beth Ann Johnston stepped into the circle backed by a 2-0 lead, thanks to RBI singles from Ryleigh Mills and Macy Alewine in the top of the first.
Johnston threw a scoreless first, before allowing one run in the second when each of the first three batters reached base. Mojica then turned to Madelyn Denn, who provided an exceptional five-inning stretch, scattering five hits and a run in her time in the circle. Denn faced 19 batters in her longest outing since April 17, and earned her fourth win of the season, pitching with the lead over her final three innings after Bralyn Belk broke a 2-2 tie with her timely two-run homer in the fourth. It marked Belk’s third home run of the season, and first since March 30.
“I was just thinking, ‘I’m going to swing the bat as hard as I can,'” Belk said with a laugh when asked about the go-ahead homer. “And it worked out.”
Just as she did against HPU, Booth stepped into the circle for the seventh, and once again picked up the final three outs to seal the win. She tallied her second save of the day, recording two quick outs before walking HSU’s Ella Salinas and Madi Hubbard in consecutive order. With two on, two outs, and UMHB holding a 4-3 lead, Booth locked back into the strike zone against Emily Jacobs. The result? A three-pitch strikeout, fanning Jacobs on a pitch that cut away from her bat as Booth and the Crusader infield emphatically celebrated the moment that sent them to the conference tournament final.
“Working the corners,” Booth said postgame, when asked about the keys to navigating HSU’s “explosive” lineup. “All week, we’ve been working our spots, just making sure we’re being consistent, trusting our catchers, and trusting each other as a pitching staff. We all know that if something happens, we have somebody right behind us to go in and do the job.”
On the day, Mojica used four different pitchers—Neal, Booth, Johnston, and Denn—who tossed 14.0 innings with four earned runs, 12 hits, and just four walks, all while striking out 12. It marked the first time since 2023 that UMHB held back-to-back opponents to three runs or fewer in the conference tournament, as The Cru lowered its Team ERA to 3.40.
UMHB faces ETBU, the nation’s No. 6 team, at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday. Should UMHB win, the two would play a second game with a start time 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. With the double-elimination format of the tournament, The Cru needs to win twice to claim the ASC title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. A live broadcast of the game can be found on goetbutigers.com.
“Well, we’re coming off a great day,” Mojica said after beating HSU. “Two wins today really has us motivated, and just a lot of confidence that anything can happen. We can definitely go win two more games tomorrow.”
UMHB Postgame Presser – Howard Payne win
UMHB Postgame Presser – Hardin-Simmons win
