SALEM, Va. – In a week of one of the best individual tournament performances in Mountain East Conference softball history by
Delaney Warnick, the Glenville State Pioneers used a fierce comeback in game one and 10 runs in game two to dethrone the University of Charleston and win the program's first-ever MEC Tournament Championship! Warnick blasted six home runs and had 18 RBIs in seven games to be crowned Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Game One – GSU 4 | Charleston 3
To no surprise,
Delaney Warnick capitalized with a runner in scoring position and singled home
Shelby McDaniels in the top of the 1
st inning to get the Pioneers started early.
Kylee Goodman then had an RBI single of her own in the 3
rd, however, Charleston would muster together three runs in the 5
th inning on three RBI doubles to take the lead.
Down to their final outs of the tournament,
Shelby McDaniels ripped a single through the right side and
Lillian Burns bunted her over to put McDaniels in scoring position for the tournament's top performer, Warnick. The junior out of Perryopolis, Pa. delivered once again, this time blasting an opposite field go-ahead home run to give the Pioneers a late 4-3 lead.
Meghan Stump pitched a great 2.1 innings of relief and sat the Golden Eagles down in order in the bottom half of the seventh to force a second championship game.
Game Two – GSU 10 | Charleston 4
The final game of the 2026 MEC Softball Tournament looked to be a shootout early on, but the Pioneer pitching staff settled down after the second inning.
Kylee Goodman had an RBI single and
Zailees Seda drove in two with a single in the top of the 1
st to once again give the Pioneers a quick lead. Charleston answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half, making it 3-2. GSU extended their advantage to three with another
Delaney Warnick home run, but the Golden Eagles trimmed the Pioneer lead to one with a two-RBI triple in the bottom half of the inning.
Then, the Pioneer bats scored in bunches again.
Hannah Howe and
Emma McLean both used doubles to plate three runs in the top of the fifth and Howe joined the home run fun in the top of the 7
th to put the icing on the cake, giving
Meghan Stump plenty of insurance. With two outs in the bottom half of the seventh, sixth-year head coach
Sara Scoone called out senior
Kylie Burdick to pitch the final out to allow the senior to soak in something the four seniors have worked for all four years. Burdick forced a flyout to fellow senior
Emma McLean, and the celebration was on as Glenville State captured the program's first-ever Mountain East Conference Tournament Championship.
Up Next For The Pioneers
The Pioneers are now a lock for the 2026 NCAA DII Tournament and will know their seeding as well as their next opponent during Monday's (May 11) Selection Show at 10 a.m.
