Softball opens HBCUAC Championship against No. 1 Dillard

NORTHPORT, Ala. - For the first time in 27 years, Wiley University softball will take the field in a postseason game as it opens the 2026 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) Softball Championship hosted by CIty of Northport and Visit Tuscaloosa against Dillard University at 4 p.m. Saturday at River Run Park.

 

All of the championship games will stream on the Urban Edge Network. The Lady Wildcats haven't played in the postseason since competing in the 1999 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament. Saturday's game will also be the first time in nearly two weeks that they've played. The series against Oakwood University was canceled.

 

Ma'Kiya Miles and T'era Garrett led the team offensively. Miles is hitting .357 and shared the team lead in RBI with Miranda Castaneda at 13. She leads the team with a .714 slugging percentage, which ranks in the top five of the conference. Garrett is hitting .354 and leads the team with 19 runs. Jazmine Rodriguez has carried the load in the circle, especially in the last month of the season, being the only healthy primary pitcher. She ranks fourth in the conference with 91 innings and is sixth with 39 strikeouts.

 

Wiley lost all three games at Dillard on March 21 and 22. It held a 2-1 lead in the third of Game 1 but three walks loaded the bases, which set up a bases-clearing double for Grace Hunter. The Lady Wildcats trailed 3-0 after two in the middle game. An RBI double by Myles and a two-run triple by Garrett tied the game. The Lady Bleu Devils took the lead for good in the sixth. Pitcher Serenity Smith was injured during warm-ups for the finale. Wiley was forced to have middle infielder Dyniste Lacy and outfielder Garrett pitch in a 17-0 loss.

 

The Lady Wildcats will enter the tournament with a full roster for the first time since the Dillard series. Gwendolyn Johnson has missed the last six games after getting hit in the face on a groundball. In 17 games, she was hitting .316 with 13 runs and eight RBI. She leads the team with 11 stolen bases. Smith was 2-5 with a 6.57 ERA. She struck out 16 batters in 43 2/3 innings.

 

Wiley will face either No. 4 seed Talladega College or No. 5 seed Voorhees University at noon on Sunday if it wins or at 9:30 a.m. if it loses.

 

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).

 

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