Six Skyhawks Earn OVC Postseason Accolades
5/5/2026 10:00:00 AM | Softball
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Six members of the University of Tennessee at Martin Softball team were honored by the Ohio Valley Conference when the league announced its annual postseason awards Tuesday.
Sophomore pitcher Natalie Kreuziger and junior outfielder Carly Ward were named All-OVC first team, junior pitcher Payton Harris and senior catcher Avary Makarewicz were named All-OVC second team, while redshirt junior outfielder Karena Recrosio and junior pitcher Sami Scholtz were named to OVC All-Newcomer team.
Kreuziger finished the season at 8-4 overall with a team-low 2.63 ERA, a team-high 70 strikeouts two solo shutouts, a combined shutout and three saves. In conference play, she went 5-1 with three saves, two solo shutouts, one combined shutout with the league's third-lowest ERA at 1.89 and a .222 opponent's batting average. On the season, her strikeout-to-walk ratio was 2.8, while in league play, it was even better at 3.8. She struck out 6.63 batters per seven innings during OVC play, which was above her overall average of 6.34.
Ward finished second in the OVC in batting average at .403, which places her in line to become just the fourth Skyhawk in program history to end the season batting over .400. She led the team in hits with sixty, while also driving in 13 runs and stealing 15 bases. She had three doubles, two triples and 12 walks on the season, while also scoring 33 runs. She was the only Skyhawk this season to tally four hits on two separate occasions
Harris went 6-4 on the season with a 3.03 ERA and 29 strikeouts. In league play, Harris was especially impressive, going 5-1 with a save, two shutouts and the lowest ERA in conference play in the OVC at just 1.04. In the last series of the season, Harris won two games on the same day, first in relief, followed by a complete game shutout.
Makarewicz batted .333 on the season and led the OVC with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. She finished the season with a slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .646 and .443, respectively, for the league's fourth-highest OPS at 1.089 and also led the Skyhawks on the year with 31 walks. In addition to her 11 home runs, she recorded nine doubles, two triples and went a perfect 6-for-6 on the base paths.
Karena Recrosio was one four Skyhawks to bat over .300 on the season with the team's second-highest average at .361. She led UT Martin in runs scored with 37, while hitting seven doubles, driving in 11 runs, drawing 12 walks and stealing 18 bases. She also had a team-best single-game performance of scoring four runs against Mississippi Valley.
Sami Scholtz went 6-5 on the year with 3.03 ERA. She notched two saves and struck out a total of 60 batters. She limited opponents to a team-low batting average of .210 on the season, while also recording two solo shutouts and a combined shutout. Against Southeast Missouri, she threw the first seven-inning no-hitter for the Skyhawks since 2006.
The six honorees and the rest of the Skyhawks earned the No. 2 seed in this week's OVC Softball Championship in Peoria, Illinois. The second-place league finish in the regular season for the Skyhawks since the 2017 season. On Thursday, UT Martin opens tournament play at 10 a.m. against either the No. 3 seed SIUE, the No. 6 seed Southern Indiana or the No. 7 seed Tennessee Tech.
Sophomore pitcher Natalie Kreuziger and junior outfielder Carly Ward were named All-OVC first team, junior pitcher Payton Harris and senior catcher Avary Makarewicz were named All-OVC second team, while redshirt junior outfielder Karena Recrosio and junior pitcher Sami Scholtz were named to OVC All-Newcomer team.
Kreuziger finished the season at 8-4 overall with a team-low 2.63 ERA, a team-high 70 strikeouts two solo shutouts, a combined shutout and three saves. In conference play, she went 5-1 with three saves, two solo shutouts, one combined shutout with the league's third-lowest ERA at 1.89 and a .222 opponent's batting average. On the season, her strikeout-to-walk ratio was 2.8, while in league play, it was even better at 3.8. She struck out 6.63 batters per seven innings during OVC play, which was above her overall average of 6.34.
Ward finished second in the OVC in batting average at .403, which places her in line to become just the fourth Skyhawk in program history to end the season batting over .400. She led the team in hits with sixty, while also driving in 13 runs and stealing 15 bases. She had three doubles, two triples and 12 walks on the season, while also scoring 33 runs. She was the only Skyhawk this season to tally four hits on two separate occasions
Harris went 6-4 on the season with a 3.03 ERA and 29 strikeouts. In league play, Harris was especially impressive, going 5-1 with a save, two shutouts and the lowest ERA in conference play in the OVC at just 1.04. In the last series of the season, Harris won two games on the same day, first in relief, followed by a complete game shutout.
Makarewicz batted .333 on the season and led the OVC with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. She finished the season with a slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .646 and .443, respectively, for the league's fourth-highest OPS at 1.089 and also led the Skyhawks on the year with 31 walks. In addition to her 11 home runs, she recorded nine doubles, two triples and went a perfect 6-for-6 on the base paths.
Karena Recrosio was one four Skyhawks to bat over .300 on the season with the team's second-highest average at .361. She led UT Martin in runs scored with 37, while hitting seven doubles, driving in 11 runs, drawing 12 walks and stealing 18 bases. She also had a team-best single-game performance of scoring four runs against Mississippi Valley.
Sami Scholtz went 6-5 on the year with 3.03 ERA. She notched two saves and struck out a total of 60 batters. She limited opponents to a team-low batting average of .210 on the season, while also recording two solo shutouts and a combined shutout. Against Southeast Missouri, she threw the first seven-inning no-hitter for the Skyhawks since 2006.
The six honorees and the rest of the Skyhawks earned the No. 2 seed in this week's OVC Softball Championship in Peoria, Illinois. The second-place league finish in the regular season for the Skyhawks since the 2017 season. On Thursday, UT Martin opens tournament play at 10 a.m. against either the No. 3 seed SIUE, the No. 6 seed Southern Indiana or the No. 7 seed Tennessee Tech.
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