Steward was named the 2026 Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player on Saturday after helping the Saxons go undefeated for the second season in a row during tournament play to claim their back-to-back championship title. She went 3-0 in the pitching circle with a total of 13 strikeouts. Offensively, Steward had two game-winning RBI, one game-winning run and one game-tying run. She hit the game-winning home run against Nazareth University, she drove in the game-winning run in the first meeting with St. John Fisher University and she had the game-tying run against SUNY Geneseo. In total, Steward batted a .400 with six hits during 15 at-bats, scored one run in all four contests, totaled four RBI, three doubles and one home run and was hit-by-pitch once. Steward was perfect defensively, recording nine assists and one putout during her 10 chances.Â
