JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team celebrated its 2017 Senior Day on Saturday (April 15) with an MIAA double-header against Pittsburg State. The Gorillas got the better of the Blue Tigers, however, as Pittsburg State handed Lincoln an 11-0 loss in the first game and a 10-3 defeat in the second.

In the second game of the afternoon, Pittsburg State (37-13, 16-6 MIAA) scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single, but it did not take Lincoln (5-39, 2-18 MIAA) long to respond. Kiley Kerr was issued a lead-off walk, and Mykenzie advanced her to second on a base hit into right field. Senior Macie Kinsey then drove both players home on a base hit deep into left field, tying the game at 2-2.

Pittsburg State retook the lead in the top of the second with four runs on two hits and an error, and Lincoln did not get back on the board until the third inning, when Jordan Lawson hit a solo homerun that ricocheted off the centerfield scoreboard. Tori Nienhueser and Chelsey Kerr later tallied base hits, and Lauren Morrow was issued a walk to load the bases, but Pittsburg State managed to notch a strikeout to end the inning up 6-3.

The Blue Tigers kept the Gorillas off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth frames, but Pittsburg State scored four runs in the top of the sixth, including three on a homerun. Pittsburg State finished with an 8-5 advantage in hits, with five different Blue Tigers accounting for those hits. Senior Sarah Westhoff pitched the entire game, and Kinsey led the defense with eight putouts. Maddie Stricklan was next with six putouts. Nienhueser finished with a team-high five assists while Livesay tallied three and Westhoff recorded two.

The first game of the afternoon was close through three innings, with the only scoring by Pittsburg State coming on an RBI single in the first inning and a solo homerun in the third. In the fourth inning, however, the Gorillas hit a grand slam, and ultimately scored nine runs in the final two frames. Lincoln stranded four runners on base in the game, with Livesay reaching twice on a hit and a walk.

Westhoff led LU defensively with four putouts while Kiley Kerr and Jordan Lawson were next with three apiece. Nienhueser, meanwhile, recorded a team-high three assists. Kinsey started the game in the circle and registered a strikeout, with Madison Ragar serving as the closer.

Prior to Saturday's games, a special ceremony was held to honor Kinsey, Westhoff, and Hope McLeod, an outfielder who is using a redshirt year this season.

The Blue Tigers will play two more MIAA games on Monday (April 17), as Lincoln travels to St. Joseph, Mo. to play Missouri Western in a 2:00 p.m. CDT double-header.