Troy University Athletics
Tuesday, March 17
Birmingham, Ala.
3 p.m.
Troy University
17-10
5
at
0
Samford
9-20
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Troy
2
0
0
3
0
0
0
5
9
0
Samford
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Troy Takes Down Samford in Midweek Game
3/17/2026 5:57:00 PM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Troy softball team bounced back with a dominant 5-0 win over Samford. The Trojans (17-10, 0-3 SBC) jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead over the Bulldogs (9-20, 0-0 SoCon) and didn't look back.
Ella Cunningham (5-1) earned her first collegiate shutout, striking out six batters and scattering three hits over seven innings. At the plate, she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Freshman Presley Ivey finished the game with two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a steal. Adding doubles for the Trojans were Kiley Huffman and Dailynn Motes. Six different Trojans recorded hits, and four more reached safely in the team effort.
Troy started the game off quickly in the first inning with a single from Loftis. With two outs, Huffman came through with an RBI double to center field. Ivey followed it up with a two-out knock of her own to bring Huffman home and make it 2-0.
After striking out 17 batters just a week ago, Cunningham stepped out to the circle and punched out two in the first inning.
The Trojan offense got rolling again in the second inning, as Motes crushed a double to the left field gap before Sophia Jenkins drew a walk. However, the Trojans couldn't add on in the frame. In the bottom of the second, Cunningham worked around a leadoff single and struck out two more batters.
Both teams worked scoreless third innings, as the Trojans ended the third with a 2-4-5 putout to catch a Bulldogs baserunner between bags.
Troy added on in the fourth inning, with a Kalee Rochinski walk getting it started before Jenkins singled to center field. Jenkins swiped second, and Rochinski dashed home on the play. Cunningham brought home two more with a line drive into right field to extend the lead to 5-0.
Cunningham worked a one-two-three inning to end the fourth, striking out one more to bring her tally to five. She did the same in the fifth inning, working quickly to send it to the Troy sixth inning.
Walks from Jenkins and Amity White, along with a single off the bat of Cunningham, loaded the bases. The Trojans weren't able to widen the lead in the sixth inning, but Cunningham worked yet another one-two-three inning to run her streak to 12 straight batters retired.
In the seventh, singles from Motes and Ivey gave the duo multi-hit games but the score remained 5-0. Cunningham's streak ended at 14 batters in a row retired with a two-out single, but she ended the game with a strikeout.
Quotable: Head Coach Eric Newell
"It was a good day today and a good bounce back from a tough weekend. I told some people it was not fun eating humble pie. It was good to get a midweek win here on spring break and get things going in the right direction. Ella Cunningham pitched really well, and we got off to a good start in the first inning. It's always good for us to play more aggressively when we have the lead. It was nice to see the girls execute, take care of business and get some runs on the board."
Notables
Ella Cunningham (5-1) earned her first collegiate shutout, striking out six batters and scattering three hits over seven innings. At the plate, she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Freshman Presley Ivey finished the game with two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a steal. Adding doubles for the Trojans were Kiley Huffman and Dailynn Motes. Six different Trojans recorded hits, and four more reached safely in the team effort.
Troy started the game off quickly in the first inning with a single from Loftis. With two outs, Huffman came through with an RBI double to center field. Ivey followed it up with a two-out knock of her own to bring Huffman home and make it 2-0.
After striking out 17 batters just a week ago, Cunningham stepped out to the circle and punched out two in the first inning.
The Trojan offense got rolling again in the second inning, as Motes crushed a double to the left field gap before Sophia Jenkins drew a walk. However, the Trojans couldn't add on in the frame. In the bottom of the second, Cunningham worked around a leadoff single and struck out two more batters.
Both teams worked scoreless third innings, as the Trojans ended the third with a 2-4-5 putout to catch a Bulldogs baserunner between bags.
Troy added on in the fourth inning, with a Kalee Rochinski walk getting it started before Jenkins singled to center field. Jenkins swiped second, and Rochinski dashed home on the play. Cunningham brought home two more with a line drive into right field to extend the lead to 5-0.
Cunningham worked a one-two-three inning to end the fourth, striking out one more to bring her tally to five. She did the same in the fifth inning, working quickly to send it to the Troy sixth inning.
Walks from Jenkins and Amity White, along with a single off the bat of Cunningham, loaded the bases. The Trojans weren't able to widen the lead in the sixth inning, but Cunningham worked yet another one-two-three inning to run her streak to 12 straight batters retired.
In the seventh, singles from Motes and Ivey gave the duo multi-hit games but the score remained 5-0. Cunningham's streak ended at 14 batters in a row retired with a two-out single, but she ended the game with a strikeout.
Quotable: Head Coach Eric Newell
"It was a good day today and a good bounce back from a tough weekend. I told some people it was not fun eating humble pie. It was good to get a midweek win here on spring break and get things going in the right direction. Ella Cunningham pitched really well, and we got off to a good start in the first inning. It's always good for us to play more aggressively when we have the lead. It was nice to see the girls execute, take care of business and get some runs on the board."
Notables
- Troy is 47-16 against Samford all-time
- The Trojans are 4-0 in midweek games this season
- The Trojans recorded their seventh shutout this season
- Troy set a season high with three sacrifice hits – it was the first time the Trojans have had three sacrifice hits in a game since Apr. 17, 2025, at Texas State
- Megan Loftis extended her on-base streak to 12 games
- Ella Cunningham logged her sixth multi-RBI game of the season
- Cunningham logged her 10th multi-hit game of the season
- Cunningham threw her first collegiate shutout
- McKinnon Howard stole her 13th base of the season, tying Makaley Boswell for the Sun Belt Conference lead
- Presley Ivey logged her sixth multi-hit game of the year
- Dailynn Motes logged her fourth multi-hit game this season
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cunningham, Ella (5-1)
L: Brandy Phillips (1-5)
Batting:
2B: Huffman, Kiley 1 ; Motes, Dailynn 1
RBI: Cunningham, Ella 2 ; Huffman, Kiley 1 ; Ivey, Presley 1
SH: Loftis, Megan 1 ; Howard, McKinnon 1 ; Motes, Dailynn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Loftis, Megan 1 ; Howard, McKinnon 1 ; Huffman, Kiley 1 ; Rochinski, Kalee 1 ; Jenkins, Sophia 1
SB: Howard, McKinnon 1 ; Ivey, Presley 1 ; Jenkins, Sophia 1
CS: Kirby, Lydia 1
HBP: Munson, Kam 1
Batting:
SH: Katie Hart 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UTL
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OF
/ Softball
OF
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INF
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/ SoftballUTL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSkylar Meade, Matt DIll, and Jimmy Janicki Postgame - Alabama State
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Eric Newell Postgame Press Conference (Samford)
Tuesday, March 17
Skylar Meade, Blake Cavill & Dylan Alonso Postgame - ODU Game 3
Sunday, March 15
Eric Newell Postgame Press Conference (South Alabama Game 3)
Sunday, March 15