University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, February 6
El Paso, Tex. / Helen of Troy Softball Complex
11:00 a.m. CT
1-0
6
vs
1
Utah Valley
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
St Thomas
0
0
2
2
0
0
2
6
8
0
Utah Valley
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
0
Softball dominates in pair of season opening wins
2/6/2026 9:44:00 PM | Softball
The Tommies picked up right where they left off in 2025 with 6-1 and 8-0 wins on Friday
EL PASO, Tex. – St. Thomas softball (2-0) took care of business on opening day with a pair of wins over Utah Valley (1-1) and UTEP (0-2), Friday at the UTEP Invitational. The Tommies took game one, 6-1, and shutout the UTEP Miners, 8-0, to finish the day.
Game One
Ava Kleinfeldt got the start for the Tommies in their first game of 2026 and pitched a nearly flawless six innings with just two hits and one HBP with a pair of strikeouts in route to her 12th career pitching win.
The sophomore got plenty of help on the offensive end in the third inning with back-to-back solo home runs from Laken Lienhard and Avery Wukawitz. Ruby Moore doubled home a pair in the fourth and then Cassidy Carby unloaded with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh.
Keira Murphy came in to relieve Kleinfeldt in the bottom of the seventh and worked around a one-out solo home run to close the door on the Toms' first win of the season.
Carby and Kameron Monson each tallied two hits and Avery Wukawitz added a walk to her solo shot. The Toms tallied eight hits and drew four walks to six strikeouts. They did not commit any errors in the field.
Game Two
The Toms scored their first run of the game in the top of the first when Ella Cook grounded out to score Laken Lienhard, who led off the inning with a walk, from third. Cook helped herself with the RBI and did not need much more after tossing six scoreless innings.
Cook retired 12 batters in a row from the third to the sixth inning before she was relieved by Mya Tautges after walking the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. In all, Cook went 6+ innings, allowed just one hit, walked four and struck out six for her first win of the season.
She did not need the run support but got plenty with a big six-run fifth. Cassidy Carby walked home Zoe Trotter who had a two-hit night, and then Cook earned two more RBI to score Wukawitz and Lienhard. Abbi Stierlen capped off the frame with a towering three run home run to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
Addison Coffey recorded the first hit of her career in the top of the seventh to score Cook for the Toms' eighth run of the contest.
Mya Tautges made her collegiate pitching debut and worked around a pair of walks with a groundout, flyout, and strikeout to end the game.
Cook and Trotter each tallied a two hit game, Lienhard walked twice and score two runs, Wukawitz also reached twice for the second game in a row. The Purple tallied seven hits with six walks and one extra-base hit. They did not commit an error in the field.
Up Next
The Tommies are right back at it tomorrow with a 10:00 a.m. CST first pitch in New Mexico against UMass Lowell. They take on the hosting New Mexico State Aggies at 4:00 p.m. CST for their second game of the day and fourth of the weekend.
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
Ava Kleinfeldt got the start for the Tommies in their first game of 2026 and pitched a nearly flawless six innings with just two hits and one HBP with a pair of strikeouts in route to her 12th career pitching win.
The sophomore got plenty of help on the offensive end in the third inning with back-to-back solo home runs from Laken Lienhard and Avery Wukawitz. Ruby Moore doubled home a pair in the fourth and then Cassidy Carby unloaded with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh.
Keira Murphy came in to relieve Kleinfeldt in the bottom of the seventh and worked around a one-out solo home run to close the door on the Toms' first win of the season.
Carby and Kameron Monson each tallied two hits and Avery Wukawitz added a walk to her solo shot. The Toms tallied eight hits and drew four walks to six strikeouts. They did not commit any errors in the field.
Game Two
The Toms scored their first run of the game in the top of the first when Ella Cook grounded out to score Laken Lienhard, who led off the inning with a walk, from third. Cook helped herself with the RBI and did not need much more after tossing six scoreless innings.
Cook retired 12 batters in a row from the third to the sixth inning before she was relieved by Mya Tautges after walking the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. In all, Cook went 6+ innings, allowed just one hit, walked four and struck out six for her first win of the season.
She did not need the run support but got plenty with a big six-run fifth. Cassidy Carby walked home Zoe Trotter who had a two-hit night, and then Cook earned two more RBI to score Wukawitz and Lienhard. Abbi Stierlen capped off the frame with a towering three run home run to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
Addison Coffey recorded the first hit of her career in the top of the seventh to score Cook for the Toms' eighth run of the contest.
Mya Tautges made her collegiate pitching debut and worked around a pair of walks with a groundout, flyout, and strikeout to end the game.
Cook and Trotter each tallied a two hit game, Lienhard walked twice and score two runs, Wukawitz also reached twice for the second game in a row. The Purple tallied seven hits with six walks and one extra-base hit. They did not commit an error in the field.
Up Next
The Tommies are right back at it tomorrow with a 10:00 a.m. CST first pitch in New Mexico against UMass Lowell. They take on the hosting New Mexico State Aggies at 4:00 p.m. CST for their second game of the day and fourth of the weekend.
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: Kleinfeldt, Ava (1-0)
L: Riley, Lily (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Carby, Cassidy 1 ; Klein, Morgan 1 ; Moore, Ruby 1
HR: Lienhard, Laken 1 ; Wukawitz, Avery 1 ; Carby, Cassidy 1
RBI: Lienhard, Laken 1 ; Wukawitz, Avery 1 ; Carby, Cassidy 2 ; Moore, Ruby 2
SH: Stierlen, Abbi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lienhard, Laken 1 ; Wukawitz, Avery 2 ; Carby, Cassidy 1 ; Wichman, Miley 1 ; Klein, Morgan 1
CS: Weingart, Kyllie 1 ; Moore, Ruby 1
HBP: Cook, Ella 1 ; Trotter, Zoe 1
Batting:
2B: Rodriguez, Amber 1
HR: Armendariz, Payge 1
RBI: Armendariz, Payge 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Armendariz, Payge 1
HBP: Haygood, Emma 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C/UT
/ Softball
3B/1B
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballSS
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF/SS
/ SoftballTommie Women's Basketball: A Foundation in Faith
Monday, December 22
Postgame: Tommie Volleyball Press Conference vs ISU (NCAA Tournament)
Sunday, December 07
Tommie Volleyball NCAA Tournament Press Conference
Monday, December 01
Press Conference: Tommie Football Postgame vs Presbyterian 11/18/25
Tuesday, November 18
