Howard Payne softball battled deep into the elimination bracket of the 2026 American Southwest Conference Championship on Friday afternoon in Marshall, Texas, falling 3-1 to University of Mary Hardin-Baylor after carrying a lead into the fifth inning.

The Yellow Jackets and Cru opened the contest locked in a pitcher's duel as Howard Payne starter Ava Aviles delivered 3.2 scoreless innings in the circle while working out of multiple traffic situations early. Aviles helped strand runners in both the third and fourth innings to keep the game scoreless through four frames.

Howard Payne broke through in the top of the fourth inning after Alyana Salazar opened the frame with a single to center field. Makayla Dunn followed with another base hit before Ashley Blaylock drove an RBI single back up the middle to plate Salazar and give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 advantage. Blaylock later stole second to continue the offensive pressure.

Alyana Salazar, Makayla Dunn, Ashley Blaylock, McKeanne Saenz, and Madison Schroeder each recorded hits for Howard Payne, while Blaylock collected the club's lone RBI.

UMHB answered in the bottom of the fifth inning after stringing together five hits to score three runs and take the lead. Ava Perlinger tied the game with an RBI single before Jordan Iverson added a go-ahead RBI groundout. Addy Todd later delivered an RBI double to center field to extend the Cru lead to 3-1.

The Yellow Jackets threatened again in the sixth inning when Siannah Nava worked a leadoff walk and Madison Schroeder followed with a pinch-hit single to put two runners aboard. UMHB turned to reliever Chloe Booth, who was able to escape the inning and preserve the lead.

Howard Payne closed the tournament showing resilience throughout the elimination bracket, competing closely with conference opponents in Marshall while continuing to battle inning by inning against two of the ASC's top programs.

Head Coach Bianca Gonzales praised the team's competitiveness and effort throughout the tournament run.

"I'm proud of the way our team competed this week," Gonzales said. "We continued to fight in every inning and showed a lot of toughness against strong conference opponents. This group never backed down, and the experience we gained in this tournament will continue to help us moving forward."