University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, February 21
Commerce, Tex. / John Cain Family Softball Complex
9:00 a.m. CT
9-4
11
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Southern
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St. Thomas (MN)
6
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Southern U.
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Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Softball outscores opponents 20-3 in pair of run-rule victories
2/21/2026 11:06:00 PM | Softball
The Tommies defeated Southern and East Texas A&M at the Lion Classic.
COMMERCE, Tex. – St. Thomas softball (10-4) needed just 10 innings between two games to down Southern University (6-6) 11-2 and the hosting East Texas A&M Lions (5-10) 9-1 on Saturday at the Lions Classic. Abbi Stierlen led the way with eight total bases to pace the Purple while Keira Murphy and Ava Kleinfeldt earned pitching wins.
Game One
The Tommies helped their starting pitcher, Keira Murphy, with six runs in the top of the first inning. Abbi Stierlen doubled home Avery Wukawitz, Grace Nosan singled Laken Lienhard around, Brier Blietz did what needed to be done with a sacrifice fly to plate Stierlen, Kyllie Weingart singled Nosan around, and Ruby Moore place a two-run double into right center field to bring Morgan Klein and Weingart around.
Murphy worked a scoreless first and then allowed her only two runs of the morning in the second. The Toms answered back with two runs in the top of the fourth on a Marleigh Louvar pinch hit single and a second Blietz SAC fly.
Mya Tautges took over in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on and nobody out. After she allowed a single, the freshman struck out three batters in a row to end the scoreless frame.
The Purple put themselves in run-rule territory with a two-run double off the bat of Laken Lienhard and then added an 11th run on a Grace Nosan single. Tautges struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the fifth and then induced a groundout to end the game.
Murphy got the win after three-plus innings of two-run (one earned) ball with one hit, three walks, two HBP, and one strikeout. Tautges when two innings scoreless with one hit allowed and five strikeouts.
Six different Tommies had a two-hit game as the Purple tallied 15 hits across five innings and four pitchers faced. Grace Nosan and Laken Lienhard each reached safely three times, Laken scored all three times.
Game Two
Ava Kleinfeldt took the circle with a one run lead in the first inning. Ella Cook doubled home Cassidy Carby in the top half, and the Kleinfeldt worked two consecutive scoreless innings before the Purple added on for three more.
Abbi Stierlen provided those three runs with one swing of the bat, her sixth of the season to plate Avery Wukawitz and Carby. After a third straight scoreless frame from Kleinfeldt, Laken Lienhard unloaded the bases in the fourth with a three-run double to score Morgan Klein, Maddy Freking and Wukawitz.
Cassidy Carby added one more two-run home run for good measure to bring the Tommie lead up to 9-0. The lone mistake Kleinfeldt made came back to bite in the bottom of the fourth after a one-out triple and subsequent RBI groundout. The sophomore standout worked a 1-2-3 to send the Lions home in the bottom of the fifth.
All six of the Tommies' hits came from different bats. Avery Wukawitz and Cassidy Carby also each reached via a pair of walks with Wukawitz coming around to score twice and Carby, three times.
Kleinfeldt went 5 IP with two hits, one walk, one earned run, and four strikeouts for her fourth win of the season.
Up Next
The Tommies look for a third consecutive Sunday win tomorrow morning with an 11:15 a.m. first pitch against East Texas A&M.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas softball team, follow along on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) at @TommieSoftball.
Game One
The Tommies helped their starting pitcher, Keira Murphy, with six runs in the top of the first inning. Abbi Stierlen doubled home Avery Wukawitz, Grace Nosan singled Laken Lienhard around, Brier Blietz did what needed to be done with a sacrifice fly to plate Stierlen, Kyllie Weingart singled Nosan around, and Ruby Moore place a two-run double into right center field to bring Morgan Klein and Weingart around.
Murphy worked a scoreless first and then allowed her only two runs of the morning in the second. The Toms answered back with two runs in the top of the fourth on a Marleigh Louvar pinch hit single and a second Blietz SAC fly.
Mya Tautges took over in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on and nobody out. After she allowed a single, the freshman struck out three batters in a row to end the scoreless frame.
The Purple put themselves in run-rule territory with a two-run double off the bat of Laken Lienhard and then added an 11th run on a Grace Nosan single. Tautges struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the fifth and then induced a groundout to end the game.
Murphy got the win after three-plus innings of two-run (one earned) ball with one hit, three walks, two HBP, and one strikeout. Tautges when two innings scoreless with one hit allowed and five strikeouts.
Six different Tommies had a two-hit game as the Purple tallied 15 hits across five innings and four pitchers faced. Grace Nosan and Laken Lienhard each reached safely three times, Laken scored all three times.
Game Two
Ava Kleinfeldt took the circle with a one run lead in the first inning. Ella Cook doubled home Cassidy Carby in the top half, and the Kleinfeldt worked two consecutive scoreless innings before the Purple added on for three more.
Abbi Stierlen provided those three runs with one swing of the bat, her sixth of the season to plate Avery Wukawitz and Carby. After a third straight scoreless frame from Kleinfeldt, Laken Lienhard unloaded the bases in the fourth with a three-run double to score Morgan Klein, Maddy Freking and Wukawitz.
Cassidy Carby added one more two-run home run for good measure to bring the Tommie lead up to 9-0. The lone mistake Kleinfeldt made came back to bite in the bottom of the fourth after a one-out triple and subsequent RBI groundout. The sophomore standout worked a 1-2-3 to send the Lions home in the bottom of the fifth.
All six of the Tommies' hits came from different bats. Avery Wukawitz and Cassidy Carby also each reached via a pair of walks with Wukawitz coming around to score twice and Carby, three times.
Kleinfeldt went 5 IP with two hits, one walk, one earned run, and four strikeouts for her fourth win of the season.
Up Next
The Tommies look for a third consecutive Sunday win tomorrow morning with an 11:15 a.m. first pitch against East Texas A&M.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas softball team, follow along on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) at @TommieSoftball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Murphy, Keira (1-0)
L: Zabala, Aaliyah (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Lienhard, Laken 1 ; Wukawitz, Avery 1 ; Stierlen, Abbi 2 ; Moore, Ruby 1
RBI: Lienhard, Laken 2 ; Stierlen, Abbi 1 ; Nosan, Grace 2 ; Weingart, Kyllie 1 ; Louvar, Marleigh 1 ; Blietz, Brier 2 ; Moore, Ruby 2
SF: Blietz, Brier 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lienhard, Laken 3 ; Wukawitz, Avery 1 ; Klein, Morgan 1 ; Stierlen, Abbi 2 ; Nosan, Grace 1 ; Weingart, Kyllie 2 ; Moore, Ruby 1
SB: Wukawitz, Avery 1
HBP: Stierlen, Abbi 1
Batting:
RBI: Manganello, Kira 1
SH: Maldonado, Katiana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wallace, Ava 1 ; Schell, Calli 1
HBP: Wallace, Ava 1 ; Schell, Calli 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
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H
2
RBI
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3
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H
2
RBI
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AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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P
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SS
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/ SoftballOF/SS
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