Saydee Shoves in Opening Round Win

OXFORD, Ala. - 15-seed Iowa Western Softball defeated 18-seed Arizona Western in the opening round of the 2026 NJCAA D1 Softball National Tournament.

The Reivers (50-6) jumped on Matador starting pitcher Jessica Smith in the bottom of the first inning after back-to-back one-out singles by Kennedy Borud and Ruclaireth Tovar Rodríguez put runners on the corners.  Freshman Kiana LeDoux capitalized with a hit to left field, making it 1-0 Iowa Western.

Sophomore Saydee Plummer was sensational in her 30th appearance and 27th start of the year.  The right-handed pitcher scattered just three hits to the Matadors while striking out eight, to run her season strikeout total to 162.

Iowa Western tacked on a run in the second inning, using back-to-back walks to put Kamira Botos in scoring position.  Freshman Taylin Tabor, who has been a hit machine, singled to the right side, scoring Botos, to make it 2-0; Tabor extended her on-base streak to all 56 games this season.

The Reivers added an insurance run in the fourth inning following a leadoff triple to right-center field by Botos and came home on an RBI groundout by Brooke Koenigsman.

Arizona Western threatened at the top of the fifth inning after a single by Aaliyah Soderlund and a walk to Angelina Fortunato.  Plummer worked out of the threat, inducing a pair of popups and striking out Alana McDonnell to keep the Matadors off the scoreboard.

Defense closed the book in the seventh, rolling a ground ball double play to Botos, who stepped on second and fired over to first for the outs.  Plummer finished the way she started, striking out Myah Alexander for her 24th win of the year.

With the victory, the 2026 Reivers become just the third team in program history to record 50 or more wins, and their three runs tie the single-season record for team runs at 535, set in 2022.

Iowa Western will now play the 2nd-seeded and defending national champion Northwest Florida State tomorrow, with the game scheduled for 1:15 pm.  Inclement weather could push the start of the game to a later time.  Follow the Reivers on social media for game time and weather updates.