JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - East Tennessee State softball registered a pair of wins over Bowling Green (8-2, 0-0 MAC) and Tennessee State (0-6, 0-0 OVC) in the second day of the ETSU Invite.

GAME 1 NOTABLES (W vs. BGSU - 3-2)

• Sophomore infielder Payton Moore registered her first career home run and collected her first career RBIs with two.  
• Senior catcher Leinani Lutu tallied the team-high of seven putouts and went 2-1 from the plate with one RBI from a single.
• Riley Martens, the senior infielder, accumulated six putouts and one assist. 
• Sophomore pitcher Eden Muncy collected five strikeouts through four innings in the ring and 14 batters faced for season-highs in both categories.  
• The team totaled 21 at-bats with three runs, two hits, three RBI and six assists in the 21 putouts.  

How It Happened:
BGSU crossed the plate once in the opening frame as an unearned run.  ETSU returned the favor with a sac fly from Lutu to bring Taylor home.
The contest remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Moore sent off her first career home run to send Martens (who reached on a walk) and herself around the bags to secure a two-run advantage.
Barnes opened the outing with three innings in the circle, holding steady until Muncy subbed in for the final four to secure control from the mound with five strikeouts and no walks, limiting the Falcons to just the lone run scored in the top of the sixth from a solo blast.  Muncy limited BGSU to just two hits through four innings and held them scoreless through the top of the seventh to secure the win, 3-2.

GAME 2 NOTABLES (W vs. TNST - 8-7)

• Catlin Pennington, the sophomore pitcher, picked up her second win in the circle this season due to 5.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts and no walks, limiting TSU to just two runs scored during that time.
• Lutu and freshman infielder Hailey Porter proved the most effective in the offense with both going 2-4 at the plate with two runs scored.  
• Sophomore catcher Addison Merritt and junior second baseman Tiare Rieger rack up two RBI apiece for season-highs.  
• Martens boasted 12 putouts in the outing for an ETSU career-high.
• Porter racked up a career-high three assists and collected two stolen bases, one of which led to a run scored.  
• Rieger, Pennington and freshman third baseman Riley Croley each tallied two assists against the Tigers, running a controlled infield with three additional putouts between the trio.
• The team totaled 31 at-bats with eight runs, eight hits, six RBI and nine assists in the 21 putouts.  

How It Happened:
Tennessee State opened scoring with two runs in the first frame and one run in the second for a 3-0 advantage.
ETSU returned the favor in the bottom of the second with three runs from a pair of walks, a Tigers error, a wild pitch and a few singles.  
The Bucs continued on through the next two innings to run up the score, 6-3.  A pair of errors in the third inning proved dastardly for Tennessee State as the two runs for the Bucs in the window were unearned.  
The fifth inning was a stalemate as the Bucs and Tigers each registered a run which bled into the sixth inning where the Bucs went up 8-4 after Boone doubled to drive Lutu home.  Tennessee State battled back in the top of the seventh to fall short after scoring three runs, giving the Bucs the win at 8-7.

UP NEXT
The Bucs return to action on Sunday, February 22 at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to close out the 2026 ETSU Invite at Betty Basler Field.