PEORIA, Ill. – As the Ohio Valley Conference crowned its 2025 tournament champion on Saturday, there was an additional piece of hardware granted to the Tennessee Tech softball team as sophomore outfielder Alina Schlageter was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team.

 

The fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers in the tournament earned one spot on the all-conference squad and their selections were made in tandem with the head coaches, sports information contacts and OVC staff. The champions received four spots on the team, the runner-up three and the third-place team two.

 

Schlageter, playing close to her native Joliet, Ill., had an impressive run in Tech's four games in the postseason event. The center fielder had 14 putouts – including a couple of incredible catches – on defense, but she had a strong offensive effort as well. Schlageter drove in three runs with a bases-clearing triple in Tech's upset win over Tennessee State for her best game, but ended the four-game run with a .400 batting average with four hits in 10 at-bats.

 

The sophomore had a .600 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percentage, laid down a sacrifice bunt and was 1-for-1 on stolen bases.

 

That's not to say Schlageter didn't have tough competition for the honor as Tech had a lot of young talent making plays in the tournament.

 

Freshman third baseman Jailynn Paderez led the team in batting average with a .455 clip, going 5-for-11. She drove in one run as she had a .455 slugging percentage and a .538 on-base mark with two walks. 

 

Sophomore catcher and outfielder Abbee Klinefelter batted .364 as she went 4-for-11 with two doubles and four RBI, posting a .545 slugging percentage and a .308 on-base percentage with two sacrifice flies, while also collecting 15 putouts.

 

In the circle, freshman Lainey Fitzgerald collected a 1.24 earned run average in 5 2/3 innings over two relief appearances. She allowing one run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts as opponents hit .150 against her. Fitzgerald threw the final 2 2/3 scoreless against defending conference champ Southeast Missouri on Friday, yielding just two hits and striking out one.

 

Eastern Illinois won the tournament in the if-necessary game in a 1-0 win in the eighth inning with the game-winning run scoring on a wild pitch. SIUE forced the extra game with a 4-3 victory earlier in the day.

 

The Panthers' Karlie McKenzie was named the tournament MVP with Kendall Grover, Briana Gonzalez and McKenzie Oslanzi representing the champions on the team. SIUE had Anna Henderson, Raegan Duncan and Kaylynn Salyars on the roster, while Southeast Missouri had Sydney Melton and Madison Winkler among the honorees. Avery Wapp represented Lindenwood on the all-tournament squad.