Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROCK HILL, S.C. - East Tennessee State softball dropped the third contest of the 2026 Winthrop Invitational on Saturday afternoon.  The Bucs (9-4, 0-0 SoCon) fell to the Winthrop Eagles (13-10, 0-0 Big South) 1-3 in the first contest and downed the Bucknell Bison (1-15, 0-0 Patriot League) 11-1 in the second of the day.

GAME 1 NOTABLES (L, 1-3 at Winthrop)
How It Happened:
Despite one inning of offensive action from the Eagles, ETSU held the Big South foe scoreless through the other five.  Catlin Pennington threw the first complete game by a Buccaneer pitcher in the 2026 campaign thus far, holding Winthrop to just four hits and three runs, dishing just one walk and collecting on strikeout through 24 batters.  In the bottom of the fourth, Winthrop was able to load the bases after a walk and pair of fielders choices with an error, for their next batter to homer and tally the three runs that eventually won the contest.  Payton Moore got the Bucs on the board with a solo blast in the top of the sixth but the squad was unable to rally and ultimately fell 1-3 on Saturday afternoon.

• Sophomore utility Payton Moore registered her second home run of the season to give ETSU their lone run of the contest.
• Payton Moore, Abigail Taylor and Whitney Boone were the three individuals to registered a hit in the contest, marking a season-low of just three hits for the Bucs.
• Riley Martens registered the game-high of seven putouts, the ninth time this season with five or more and the seventh consecutive outing.
• Hailey Porter tied her career-high of three assists, a mark she has now reached four times throughout her freshman season.  
• Tiare Rieger collected five putouts and one assist through the six innings in the field, a season-high for the sophomore second baseman.
• The team totaled 27 at-bats, one run, three hits, one RBI, drew three walks and totaled seven assists through the 18 putouts.

GAME 2 NOTABLES (vs. Bucknell)
How It Happened:
The Bucs opened scoring with a lone run in the bottom of the first from some heads up base running from Abigail Taylor.  Taylor reached on an error, stole second then advanced to third on a wild pitch, crossing the plate after Boone singled up the middle.  The bottom of the second inning secured the second run-rule of the season for ETSU as the Bucs tallied their second 10-run inning of the season off of a pair of Bucknell errors, seven hits, four walks and a stolen bag.  The Bison were unable to rally, placing just one run on the board in the top of the fifth after four scoreless innings.

• ETSU recorded their second 10-run inning of the season in the bottom of the second.
• The shutout was the third for the Bucs this season, their most in a season since 2023 (4).
• Abigail Taylor collected her 13th stolen base of the season after going 1-3 at the plate and crossing it twice herself.  
• Payton Moore and Riley Martens each drove in two RBI and crossed the plate twice themselves.
• Riley Croley drove in two runs with one run to herself.  The freshman infielder collected the game-high of two assists with one putout.
• Leinani Lutu led defense with the game-high of five putouts.
• Taylor Suchy secured her third win of the season in the circle with 2.2 innings pitched with two strikeouts.  Suchy went 1-2 at the plate with one RBI off a double.
• Cameron Lauretta saw her third trip to the mound this season with two strikeouts through 1.1 innings pitched.  
• Tiare Rieger joined Suchy as the only member of the squad to record a multi-bag hit with a double, scoring two and then crossing the plate once herself.  
• The team totaled 22 at-bats, 11 runs, nine hits, 11 RBI, drew four walks, stole two bases and registered five assists through the 15 putouts.  

UP NEXT 
The Bucs return to action in the final day of the 2026 Winthrop Invitational, set to face Georgia State at 10:30 a.m. and Bucknell at 1 p.m. at Terry Field.