Posted: Feb 27, 2026
Softball wins first games in rebirth of program, claims opening HBCUAC series
OXFORD, Ala. - It was a historic weekend for Wiley University softball. It jumped out early to pick up the program's first win in its new era with an 11-4 Game 1 victory. After suffering a 6-5 loss in the second game, the Lady Wildcats took the finale 9-3, claiming its first Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) series victory on Sunday and Monday.
SUNDAY
GAME 1
Wiley (2-3, 2-1 HBCUAC) unloaded with nine runs in the first inning. Serenity Smith hit a bases-clearing double. Gwendolyn Johnson hit an RBI triple. Ma'Kiya Miles hit a two-RBI double. Errors brought in runs in the second and fifth innings.
Johnson went 3-for-5. Gabriella Thomas went 2-for-4 with two runs. Te'ra Garrett, Dyniste Lacy, and Jenevieve Fleming each scored two runs. Smith started in the circle and went three innings. She held the Tornadoes to a run on four hits and struck out three. Jazmine Rodriguez closed the game.
GAME 2
Wiley struck first with an RBI single by Sariya Calhoun in the second. Talladega answered with three runs on three hits. The Lady Wildcats responded. Johnson reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch. Miranda Castaneda tied the game with a double to left field. A single by Calhoun and an error brought home Castaneda to give Wiley a 4-3 lead.
Talladega (1-10, 1-2 HBCUAC) took the lead back in the fifth with two runs on a hit and an error. Wiley tied the game in the seventh inning. Castaneda tripled with one out and scored on a single by Calhoun. The Tornadoes walked it off with a run on two hits and an error that would have ended the inning.
Calhoun went 4-for-4 with two RBI. Castaneda went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Rodriguez started in the circle and allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings. Smith pitched the remainder of the game. None of the three runs she allowed were earned.
MONDAY
The Lady Wildcats took the lead in the second inning. Johnson led off with a single and stole second. She scored on an error. Calhoun, who reached on the error, advanced on Castaneda's double and scored on a groundball. Wiley broke the game open with six runs in the fourth inning.
Kyrra Boone, Smith and Calhoun hit two RBI singles. Sabriiyah Young hit a two-out single. Te'ra Garrett reached on an error, which extended the inning.
Miles and Johnson both recorded two hits and scored two runs. Smith went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI. Calhoun went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Smith picked up her first career win in the circle. She gave up an earned run on five hits and struck out one in five innings.
The Lady Wildcats are idle until March 3, when they visit Central Baptist College for a doubleheader.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats, visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/sball/index
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 13 varsity sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, baseball and softball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
Wiley University sponsors 13 varsity sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, baseball and softball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
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