JOHNSON CITY, TN – The UVA Wise softball team opened the 2025 season with three games against teams from Conference Carolinas in the Big Region Preseason Invitational, hosted by King University. The Highland Cavaliers went 1-2 in the event, falling to Barton and defeating King on Saturday, then falling to Converse on Sunday.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
Game One Result: Barton 7, UVA Wise 3
Game Two Result: UVA Wise 3, King 2
Game Three Result: Converse 5, UVA Wise 2
Records: UVA Wise (1-2, 0-0 South Atlantic Conference)
Location: Johnson City, TN | Winged Deer Park
GAME ONE
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Adyson Gibson scored the first run of the season as she crossed the plate from third via a walk with bases loaded in the top of the first. Later in the inning,
Taylor Clay picked up her first career run via a RBI single to right field by
Abagail Mills.
- Barton would pick up a run in the third inning, and the Cavs would score again in the fourth as Mills scored from an
Emma McCauley single down the right field line.
- The Bulldogs then scored five runs in the fourth and one in the sixth to claim the 7-3 victory,
- Gibson and Mills each had two hits in the contest, while
Alivia Nolley was tagged with the loss.
GAME TWO
- The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Clay scored on a single up the middle by Mills.
- UVA Wise added another run in the fifth when McCauley scored via a single by
Savannah Johnson.
- King would plate two in the sixth to tie the game up at 2-2, but in the seventh inning Mills once again had a RBI single, scoring Gibson, to give the Cavs the win.
- As in the Barton game, Gibson and Mills had two hits apiece to lead the team.
Jillian Jones went the distance for the win, giving up two runs off of five hits and fanning five Tornado batters.
GAME THREE
- Gibson scored her third run of the weekend on the RBI single from
Lindsey Polan in the top of the first.
- Converse took the lead via a run in the third and two more in the fifth.
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Gracee Greer scored in the sixth via a
Taylor Clay single to cut the lead to 3-2 in the sixth, but the Valkyries then scored twice in the bottom of the inning and held off the Cavs to take the 5-2 victory.
- Clay and Polan led the team with two hits each, while Olivia Schockley took the loss.
UP NEXT
The Cavs will host Lock Haven, North Greenville, and West Virginia State next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as all the teams will play several games against each other over the three-day span. First pitch for the weekend is Friday at noon, when UVA Wise hosts Lock Haven in their season-opener and the first-ever meeting between the two schools. It also marks the first of 24 consecutive home games for the Highland Cavaliers.
